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:
1,500 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 22 × 3 × 53
1,500 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
8,019 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 11 = 36 × 11
8,019 is a composite number.
1,500/8,019 =
(1,500 ÷ 3) / (8,019 ÷ 3) =
500/2,673
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.
1,500/8,019 =
(22 × 3 × 53)/(36 × 11) =
((22 × 3 × 53) ÷ 3) / ((36 × 11) ÷ 3) =
(22 × 53)/(35 × 11) =
500/2,673
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
500/2,673 =
500 ÷ 2,673 =
0.187055742611 ≈
0.19