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:
1,284 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 107 = 22 × 3 × 107
1,284 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
5,050 = 2 × 5 × 5 × 101 = 2 × 52 × 101
5,050 is a composite number.
1,284/5,050 =
(1,284 ÷ 2) / (5,050 ÷ 2) =
642/2,525
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.
1,284/5,050 =
(22 × 3 × 107)/(2 × 52 × 101) =
((22 × 3 × 107) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 52 × 101) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 3 × 107)/(52 × 101) =
642/2,525
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
642/2,525 =
642 ÷ 2,525 =
0.254257425743 ≈
0.25