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:
1,888 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 59 = 25 × 59
1,888 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
8,888 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 11 × 101 = 23 × 11 × 101
8,888 is a composite number.
1,888/8,888 =
(1,888 ÷ 8) / (8,888 ÷ 8) =
236/1,111
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.
1,888/8,888 =
(25 × 59)/(23 × 11 × 101) =
((25 × 59) ÷ 23) / ((23 × 11 × 101) ÷ 23) =
(22 × 59)/(11 × 101) =
236/1,111
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
236/1,111 =
236 ÷ 1,111 =
0.212421242124 ≈
0.21