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:
171,850 = 2 × 5 × 5 × 7 × 491 = 2 × 52 × 7 × 491
171,850 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
500,056 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 62,507 = 23 × 62,507
500,056 is a composite number.
171,850/500,056 =
(171,850 ÷ 2) / (500,056 ÷ 2) =
85,925/250,028
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.
171,850/500,056 =
(2 × 52 × 7 × 491)/(23 × 62,507) =
((2 × 52 × 7 × 491) ÷ 2) / ((23 × 62,507) ÷ 2) =
(52 × 7 × 491)/(22 × 62,507) =
85,925/250,028
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
85,925/250,028 =
85,925 ÷ 250,028 =
0.343661509911 ≈
0.34