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:
17,777,760 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37 = 25 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37
17,777,760 is a composite number.
33,333,313 = 13 × 2,564,101
33,333,313 is a composite number.
17,777,760/33,333,313 =
(17,777,760 ÷ 13) / (33,333,313 ÷ 13) =
1,367,520/2,564,101
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.
17,777,760/33,333,313 =
(25 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37)/(13 × 2,564,101) =
((25 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37) ÷ 13) / ((13 × 2,564,101) ÷ 13) =
(25 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × 37)/2,564,101 =
1,367,520/2,564,101
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,367,520/2,564,101 =
1,367,520 ÷ 2,564,101 =
0.533333125333 ≈
0.53