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:
196 = 2 × 2 × 7 × 7 = 22 × 72
196 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
8,580 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 11 × 13 = 22 × 3 × 5 × 11 × 13
8,580 is a composite number.
196/8,580 =
(196 ÷ 4) / (8,580 ÷ 4) =
49/2,145
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.
196/8,580 =
(22 × 72)/(22 × 3 × 5 × 11 × 13) =
((22 × 72) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 3 × 5 × 11 × 13) ÷ 22) =
72/(3 × 5 × 11 × 13) =
49/2,145
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
49/2,145 =
49 ÷ 2,145 =
0.022843822844 ≈
0.02