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:
13,751,328 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 143,243 = 25 × 3 × 143,243
13,751,328 is a composite number.
249,999,922 = 2 × 124,999,961
249,999,922 is a composite number.
13,751,328/249,999,922 =
(13,751,328 ÷ 2) / (249,999,922 ÷ 2) =
6,875,664/124,999,961
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.
13,751,328/249,999,922 =
(25 × 3 × 143,243)/(2 × 124,999,961) =
((25 × 3 × 143,243) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 124,999,961) ÷ 2) =
(24 × 3 × 143,243)/124,999,961 =
6,875,664/124,999,961
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
6,875,664/124,999,961 =
6,875,664 ÷ 124,999,961 =
0.055005329162 ≈
0.06