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:
128,571,452 = 2 × 2 × 32,142,863 = 22 × 32,142,863
128,571,452 is a composite number.
300,000,002 = 2 × 150,000,001
300,000,002 is a composite number.
128,571,452/300,000,002 =
(128,571,452 ÷ 2) / (300,000,002 ÷ 2) =
64,285,726/150,000,001
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.
128,571,452/300,000,002 =
(22 × 32,142,863)/(2 × 150,000,001) =
((22 × 32,142,863) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 150,000,001) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 32,142,863)/150,000,001 =
64,285,726/150,000,001
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
64,285,726/150,000,001 =
64,285,726 ÷ 150,000,001 =
0.42857150381 ≈
0.43