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:
1,836 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 17 = 22 × 33 × 17
1,836 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
4,996 = 2 × 2 × 1,249 = 22 × 1,249
4,996 is a composite number.
1,836/4,996 =
(1,836 ÷ 4) / (4,996 ÷ 4) =
459/1,249
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.
1,836/4,996 =
(22 × 33 × 17)/(22 × 1,249) =
((22 × 33 × 17) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 1,249) ÷ 22) =
(33 × 17)/1,249 =
459/1,249
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
459/1,249 =
459 ÷ 1,249 =
0.367493995196 ≈
0.37