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:
120 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 = 23 × 3 × 5
120 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
50,016 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 521 = 25 × 3 × 521
50,016 is a composite number.
120/50,016 =
(120 ÷ 24) / (50,016 ÷ 24) =
5/2,084
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.
120/50,016 =
(23 × 3 × 5)/(25 × 3 × 521) =
((23 × 3 × 5) ÷ (23 × 3)) / ((25 × 3 × 521) ÷ (23 × 3)) =
5/(22 × 521) =
5/2,084
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
5/2,084 =
5 ÷ 2,084 =
0.002399232246 ≈
0