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:
1,332 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 37 = 22 × 32 × 37
1,332 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
4,360 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 109 = 23 × 5 × 109
4,360 is a composite number.
1,332/4,360 =
(1,332 ÷ 4) / (4,360 ÷ 4) =
333/1,090
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.
1,332/4,360 =
(22 × 32 × 37)/(23 × 5 × 109) =
((22 × 32 × 37) ÷ 22) / ((23 × 5 × 109) ÷ 22) =
(32 × 37)/(2 × 5 × 109) =
333/1,090
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
333/1,090 =
333 ÷ 1,090 =
0.305504587156 ≈
0.31