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:
1,142,858 = 2 × 139 × 4,111
1,142,858 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
2,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 27 × 56
2,000,000 is a composite number.
1,142,858/2,000,000 =
(1,142,858 ÷ 2) / (2,000,000 ÷ 2) =
571,429/1,000,000
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.
1,142,858/2,000,000 =
(2 × 139 × 4,111)/(27 × 56) =
((2 × 139 × 4,111) ÷ 2) / ((27 × 56) ÷ 2) =
(139 × 4,111)/(26 × 56) =
571,429/1,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
571,429/1,000,000 =
571,429 ÷ 1,000,000 =
0.571429 ≈
0.57