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:
1,431,800 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 7,159 = 23 × 52 × 7,159
1,431,800 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
2,249,968 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 7 × 20,089 = 24 × 7 × 20,089
2,249,968 is a composite number.
1,431,800/2,249,968 =
(1,431,800 ÷ 8) / (2,249,968 ÷ 8) =
178,975/281,246
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.
1,431,800/2,249,968 =
(23 × 52 × 7,159)/(24 × 7 × 20,089) =
((23 × 52 × 7,159) ÷ 23) / ((24 × 7 × 20,089) ÷ 23) =
(52 × 7,159)/(2 × 7 × 20,089) =
178,975/281,246
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
178,975/281,246 =
178,975 ÷ 281,246 =
0.636364606074 ≈
0.64