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:
118,071 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 4,373 = 33 × 4,373
118,071 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
250,008 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 11 × 947 = 23 × 3 × 11 × 947
250,008 is a composite number.
118,071/250,008 =
(118,071 ÷ 3) / (250,008 ÷ 3) =
39,357/83,336
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.
118,071/250,008 =
(33 × 4,373)/(23 × 3 × 11 × 947) =
((33 × 4,373) ÷ 3) / ((23 × 3 × 11 × 947) ÷ 3) =
(32 × 4,373)/(23 × 11 × 947) =
39,357/83,336
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
39,357/83,336 =
39,357 ÷ 83,336 =
0.472268887396 ≈
0.47