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:
11,851,852 = 2 × 2 × 2,962,963 = 22 × 2,962,963
11,851,852 is a composite number.
22,222,222 = 2 × 11 × 73 × 101 × 137
22,222,222 is a composite number.
11,851,852/22,222,222 =
(11,851,852 ÷ 2) / (22,222,222 ÷ 2) =
5,925,926/11,111,111
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.
11,851,852/22,222,222 =
(22 × 2,962,963)/(2 × 11 × 73 × 101 × 137) =
((22 × 2,962,963) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 11 × 73 × 101 × 137) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 2,962,963)/(11 × 73 × 101 × 137) =
5,925,926/11,111,111
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
5,925,926/11,111,111 =
5,925,926 ÷ 11,111,111 =
0.533333345333 ≈
0.53