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:
162 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 = 2 × 34
162 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
18,084 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 11 × 137 = 22 × 3 × 11 × 137
18,084 is a composite number.
162/18,084 =
(162 ÷ 6) / (18,084 ÷ 6) =
27/3,014
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.
162/18,084 =
(2 × 34)/(22 × 3 × 11 × 137) =
((2 × 34) ÷ (2 × 3)) / ((22 × 3 × 11 × 137) ÷ (2 × 3)) =
33/(2 × 11 × 137) =
27/3,014
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
27/3,014 =
27 ÷ 3,014 =
0.00895819509 ≈
0.01