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:
13,156 = 2 × 2 × 11 × 13 × 23 = 22 × 11 × 13 × 23
13,156 is a composite number.
49,998 = 2 × 3 × 13 × 641
49,998 is a composite number.
13,156/49,998 =
(13,156 ÷ 26) / (49,998 ÷ 26) =
506/1,923
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.
13,156/49,998 =
(22 × 11 × 13 × 23)/(2 × 3 × 13 × 641) =
((22 × 11 × 13 × 23) ÷ (2 × 13)) / ((2 × 3 × 13 × 641) ÷ (2 × 13)) =
(2 × 11 × 23)/(3 × 641) =
506/1,923
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
506/1,923 =
506 ÷ 1,923 =
0.263130525221 ≈
0.26