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:
116,666,669 = 7 × 19 × 739 × 1,187
116,666,669 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
700,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 7 = 28 × 58 × 7
700,000,000 is a composite number.
116,666,669/700,000,000 =
(116,666,669 ÷ 7) / (700,000,000 ÷ 7) =
16,666,667/100,000,000
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.
116,666,669/700,000,000 =
(7 × 19 × 739 × 1,187)/(28 × 58 × 7) =
((7 × 19 × 739 × 1,187) ÷ 7) / ((28 × 58 × 7) ÷ 7) =
(19 × 739 × 1,187)/(28 × 58) =
16,666,667/100,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
16,666,667/100,000,000 =
16,666,667 ÷ 100,000,000 =
0.16666667 ≈
0.17