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:
13,636,256 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 359 × 1,187 = 25 × 359 × 1,187
13,636,256 is a composite number.
59,999,894 = 2 × 29,999,947
59,999,894 is a composite number.
13,636,256/59,999,894 =
(13,636,256 ÷ 2) / (59,999,894 ÷ 2) =
6,818,128/29,999,947
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.
13,636,256/59,999,894 =
(25 × 359 × 1,187)/(2 × 29,999,947) =
((25 × 359 × 1,187) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 29,999,947) ÷ 2) =
(24 × 359 × 1,187)/29,999,947 =
6,818,128/29,999,947
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
6,818,128/29,999,947 =
6,818,128 ÷ 29,999,947 =
0.227271334846 ≈
0.23