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:
12 = 2 × 2 × 3 = 22 × 3
12 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
4,000,000,059 = 3 × 3 × 11 × 71 × 569,071 = 32 × 11 × 71 × 569,071
4,000,000,059 is a composite number.
12/4,000,000,059 =
(12 ÷ 3) / (4,000,000,059 ÷ 3) =
4/1,333,333,353
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.
12/4,000,000,059 =
(22 × 3)/(32 × 11 × 71 × 569,071) =
((22 × 3) ÷ 3) / ((32 × 11 × 71 × 569,071) ÷ 3) =
22/(3 × 11 × 71 × 569,071) =
4/1,333,333,353
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
4/1,333,333,353 =
4 ÷ 1,333,333,353 =
0.000000003 ≈
0