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:
151,516 = 2 × 2 × 37,879 = 22 × 37,879
151,516 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
199,998 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 41 × 271 = 2 × 32 × 41 × 271
199,998 is a composite number.
151,516/199,998 =
(151,516 ÷ 2) / (199,998 ÷ 2) =
75,758/99,999
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.
151,516/199,998 =
(22 × 37,879)/(2 × 32 × 41 × 271) =
((22 × 37,879) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 32 × 41 × 271) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 37,879)/(32 × 41 × 271) =
75,758/99,999
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
75,758/99,999 =
75,758 ÷ 99,999 =
0.757587575876 ≈
0.76