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:
182 = 2 × 7 × 13
182 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
2,000,240 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 11 × 2,273 = 24 × 5 × 11 × 2,273
2,000,240 is a composite number.
182/2,000,240 =
(182 ÷ 2) / (2,000,240 ÷ 2) =
91/1,000,120
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.
182/2,000,240 =
(2 × 7 × 13)/(24 × 5 × 11 × 2,273) =
((2 × 7 × 13) ÷ 2) / ((24 × 5 × 11 × 2,273) ÷ 2) =
(7 × 13)/(23 × 5 × 11 × 2,273) =
91/1,000,120
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
91/1,000,120 =
91 ÷ 1,000,120 =
0.000090989081 ≈
0