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:
1,950 = 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 13 = 2 × 3 × 52 × 13
1,950 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
3,736 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 467 = 23 × 467
3,736 is a composite number.
1,950/3,736 =
(1,950 ÷ 2) / (3,736 ÷ 2) =
975/1,868
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.
1,950/3,736 =
(2 × 3 × 52 × 13)/(23 × 467) =
((2 × 3 × 52 × 13) ÷ 2) / ((23 × 467) ÷ 2) =
(3 × 52 × 13)/(22 × 467) =
975/1,868
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
975/1,868 =
975 ÷ 1,868 =
0.521948608137 ≈
0.52