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:
16,666,584 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 11 × 63,131 = 23 × 3 × 11 × 63,131
16,666,584 is a composite number.
19,999,878 = 2 × 3 × 3,333,313
19,999,878 is a composite number.
16,666,584/19,999,878 =
(16,666,584 ÷ 6) / (19,999,878 ÷ 6) =
2,777,764/3,333,313
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.
16,666,584/19,999,878 =
(23 × 3 × 11 × 63,131)/(2 × 3 × 3,333,313) =
((23 × 3 × 11 × 63,131) ÷ (2 × 3)) / ((2 × 3 × 3,333,313) ÷ (2 × 3)) =
(22 × 11 × 63,131)/3,333,313 =
2,777,764/3,333,313
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,777,764/3,333,313 =
2,777,764 ÷ 3,333,313 =
0.833334283339 ≈
0.83