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:
1,515,159 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 17 × 3,301 = 33 × 17 × 3,301
1,515,159 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
300,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 28 × 3 × 58
300,000,000 is a composite number.
1,515,159/300,000,000 =
(1,515,159 ÷ 3) / (300,000,000 ÷ 3) =
505,053/100,000,000
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.
1,515,159/300,000,000 =
(33 × 17 × 3,301)/(28 × 3 × 58) =
((33 × 17 × 3,301) ÷ 3) / ((28 × 3 × 58) ÷ 3) =
(32 × 17 × 3,301)/(28 × 58) =
505,053/100,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
505,053/100,000,000 =
505,053 ÷ 100,000,000 =
0.00505053 ≈
0.01