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:
16,666,659 = 3 × 3 × 1,851,851 = 32 × 1,851,851
16,666,659 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
39,999,969 = 3 × 3 × 41 × 108,401 = 32 × 41 × 108,401
39,999,969 is a composite number.
16,666,659/39,999,969 =
(16,666,659 ÷ 9) / (39,999,969 ÷ 9) =
1,851,851/4,444,441
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.
16,666,659/39,999,969 =
(32 × 1,851,851)/(32 × 41 × 108,401) =
((32 × 1,851,851) ÷ 32) / ((32 × 41 × 108,401) ÷ 32) =
1,851,851/(41 × 108,401) =
1,851,851/4,444,441
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,851,851/4,444,441 =
1,851,851 ÷ 4,444,441 =
0.416666797917 ≈
0.42