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:
1,785,722 = 2 × 892,861
1,785,722 is a composite number.
12,500,014 = 2 × 43 × 145,349
12,500,014 is a composite number.
1,785,722/12,500,014 =
(1,785,722 ÷ 2) / (12,500,014 ÷ 2) =
892,861/6,250,007
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.
1,785,722/12,500,014 =
(2 × 892,861)/(2 × 43 × 145,349) =
((2 × 892,861) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 43 × 145,349) ÷ 2) =
892,861/(43 × 145,349) =
892,861/6,250,007
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
892,861/6,250,007 =
892,861 ÷ 6,250,007 =
0.142857599999 ≈
0.14