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:
12,418 = 2 × 7 × 887
12,418 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
69,993 = 3 × 3 × 7 × 11 × 101 = 32 × 7 × 11 × 101
69,993 is a composite number.
12,418/69,993 =
(12,418 ÷ 7) / (69,993 ÷ 7) =
1,774/9,999
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.
12,418/69,993 =
(2 × 7 × 887)/(32 × 7 × 11 × 101) =
((2 × 7 × 887) ÷ 7) / ((32 × 7 × 11 × 101) ÷ 7) =
(2 × 887)/(32 × 11 × 101) =
1,774/9,999
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,774/9,999 =
1,774 ÷ 9,999 =
0.177417741774 ≈
0.18