Detailed calculations and explanations, below
A common ordinary fraction is made up of
two integer numbers and a fraction bar:
15,428,571,434/18,000,000,000
- The integer number above the bar is called numerator: 15,428,571,434
- The integer number below the bar is called denominator: 18,000,000,000
- The fraction bar means that the numerator is divided by the denominator.
- To get the fraction's value divide the numerator by the denominator:
The value = 15,428,571,434 ÷ 18,000,000,000
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:
15,428,571,434 = 2 × 7,714,285,717
15,428,571,434 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
18,000,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 210 × 32 × 59
18,000,000,000 is a composite number.
15,428,571,434/18,000,000,000 =
(15,428,571,434 ÷ 2) / (18,000,000,000 ÷ 2) =
7,714,285,717/9,000,000,000
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.
15,428,571,434/18,000,000,000 =
(2 × 7,714,285,717)/(210 × 32 × 59) =
((2 × 7,714,285,717) ÷ 2) / ((210 × 32 × 59) ÷ 2) =
7,714,285,717/(29 × 32 × 59) =
7,714,285,717/9,000,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
7,714,285,717/9,000,000,000 =
7,714,285,717 ÷ 9,000,000,000 =
0.857142857444 ≈
0.86