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:
1,672 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 11 × 19 = 23 × 11 × 19
1,672 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
7,002 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 389 = 2 × 32 × 389
7,002 is a composite number.
1,672/7,002 =
(1,672 ÷ 2) / (7,002 ÷ 2) =
836/3,501
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.
1,672/7,002 =
(23 × 11 × 19)/(2 × 32 × 389) =
((23 × 11 × 19) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 32 × 389) ÷ 2) =
(22 × 11 × 19)/(32 × 389) =
836/3,501
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
836/3,501 =
836 ÷ 3,501 =
0.238788917452 ≈
0.24