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:
13,794 = 2 × 3 × 11 × 11 × 19 = 2 × 3 × 112 × 19
13,794 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
25,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 23 × 55
25,000 is a composite number.
13,794/25,000 =
(13,794 ÷ 2) / (25,000 ÷ 2) =
6,897/12,500
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.
13,794/25,000 =
(2 × 3 × 112 × 19)/(23 × 55) =
((2 × 3 × 112 × 19) ÷ 2) / ((23 × 55) ÷ 2) =
(3 × 112 × 19)/(22 × 55) =
6,897/12,500
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
6,897/12,500 =
6,897 ÷ 12,500 =
0.55176 ≈
0.55