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:
15,999,957 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 19 × 31,189 = 33 × 19 × 31,189
15,999,957 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
59,999,952 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 1,249,999 = 24 × 3 × 1,249,999
59,999,952 is a composite number.
15,999,957/59,999,952 =
(15,999,957 ÷ 3) / (59,999,952 ÷ 3) =
5,333,319/19,999,984
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.
15,999,957/59,999,952 =
(33 × 19 × 31,189)/(24 × 3 × 1,249,999) =
((33 × 19 × 31,189) ÷ 3) / ((24 × 3 × 1,249,999) ÷ 3) =
(32 × 19 × 31,189)/(24 × 1,249,999) =
5,333,319/19,999,984
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
5,333,319/19,999,984 =
5,333,319 ÷ 19,999,984 =
0.266666163333 ≈
0.27