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:
17,357,157 = 3 × 3 × 23 × 71 × 1,181 = 32 × 23 × 71 × 1,181
17,357,157 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
40,500,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 25 × 34 × 56
40,500,000 is a composite number.
17,357,157/40,500,000 =
(17,357,157 ÷ 9) / (40,500,000 ÷ 9) =
1,928,573/4,500,000
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.
17,357,157/40,500,000 =
(32 × 23 × 71 × 1,181)/(25 × 34 × 56) =
((32 × 23 × 71 × 1,181) ÷ 32) / ((25 × 34 × 56) ÷ 32) =
(23 × 71 × 1,181)/(25 × 32 × 56) =
1,928,573/4,500,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,928,573/4,500,000 =
1,928,573 ÷ 4,500,000 =
0.428571777778 ≈
0.43