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:
122,733 = 3 × 3 × 13 × 1,049 = 32 × 13 × 1,049
122,733 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
1,012,500 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 22 × 34 × 55
1,012,500 is a composite number.
122,733/1,012,500 =
(122,733 ÷ 9) / (1,012,500 ÷ 9) =
13,637/112,500
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.
122,733/1,012,500 =
(32 × 13 × 1,049)/(22 × 34 × 55) =
((32 × 13 × 1,049) ÷ 32) / ((22 × 34 × 55) ÷ 32) =
(13 × 1,049)/(22 × 32 × 55) =
13,637/112,500
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
13,637/112,500 =
13,637 ÷ 112,500 =
0.121217777778 ≈
0.12