To reduce a fraction to the lowest terms equivalent: divide the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor, GCF
To calculate the greatest common factor, GCF:
- 1. Factor the numerator and the denominator (into prime factors), build their prime factorizations.
- 2. Multiply all their common prime factors, taken by the lowest exponents.
1. Factor the numerator and the denominator:
To factor a number (into prime factors) - or, in other words, to break it down to prime factors - or, in other words, to build its prime factorization: find the prime numbers that multiply together to get that number.
The prime factorizations:
Written with exponents:
10,909,120 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 73 × 467 = 26 × 5 × 73 × 467
10,909,120 is a composite number.
89,999,978 = 2 × 233 × 193,133
89,999,978 is a composite number.
10,909,120/89,999,978 =
(10,909,120 ÷ 2) / (89,999,978 ÷ 2) =
5,454,560/44,999,989
Yet another method to reduce the fraction
To reduce a fraction without calculating the GCF: factor its numerator and denominator, then all the common prime factors are easily identified and crossed out.
10,909,120/89,999,978 =
(26 × 5 × 73 × 467)/(2 × 233 × 193,133) =
((26 × 5 × 73 × 467) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 233 × 193,133) ÷ 2) =
(25 × 5 × 73 × 467)/(233 × 193,133) =
5,454,560/44,999,989
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
5,454,560/44,999,989 =
5,454,560 ÷ 44,999,989 =
0.121212474074 ≈
0.12