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:
1,160 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 29 = 23 × 5 × 29
1,160 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
4,676 = 2 × 2 × 7 × 167 = 22 × 7 × 167
4,676 is a composite number.
1,160/4,676 =
(1,160 ÷ 4) / (4,676 ÷ 4) =
290/1,169
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.
1,160/4,676 =
(23 × 5 × 29)/(22 × 7 × 167) =
((23 × 5 × 29) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 7 × 167) ÷ 22) =
(2 × 5 × 29)/(7 × 167) =
290/1,169
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
290/1,169 =
290 ÷ 1,169 =
0.248075278015 ≈
0.25