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:
16,666,682 = 2 × 71 × 117,371
16,666,682 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
39,999,992 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 4,999,999 = 23 × 4,999,999
39,999,992 is a composite number.
16,666,682/39,999,992 =
(16,666,682 ÷ 2) / (39,999,992 ÷ 2) =
8,333,341/19,999,996
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.
16,666,682/39,999,992 =
(2 × 71 × 117,371)/(23 × 4,999,999) =
((2 × 71 × 117,371) ÷ 2) / ((23 × 4,999,999) ÷ 2) =
(71 × 117,371)/(22 × 4,999,999) =
8,333,341/19,999,996
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
8,333,341/19,999,996 =
8,333,341 ÷ 19,999,996 =
0.416667133333 ≈
0.42