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:
14,467,680 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 17 × 197 = 25 × 33 × 5 × 17 × 197
14,467,680 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
30,000,036 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 11 × 17 × 29 × 461 = 22 × 3 × 11 × 17 × 29 × 461
30,000,036 is a composite number.
14,467,680/30,000,036 =
(14,467,680 ÷ 204) / (30,000,036 ÷ 204) =
70,920/147,059
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.
14,467,680/30,000,036 =
(25 × 33 × 5 × 17 × 197)/(22 × 3 × 11 × 17 × 29 × 461) =
((25 × 33 × 5 × 17 × 197) ÷ (22 × 3 × 17)) / ((22 × 3 × 11 × 17 × 29 × 461) ÷ (22 × 3 × 17)) =
(23 × 32 × 5 × 197)/(11 × 29 × 461) =
70,920/147,059
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
70,920/147,059 =
70,920 ÷ 147,059 =
0.482255421293 ≈
0.48