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:
202,020,204 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 16,835,017 = 22 × 3 × 16,835,017
202,020,204 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
800,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 211 × 58
800,000,000 is a composite number.
202,020,204/800,000,000 =
(202,020,204 ÷ 4) / (800,000,000 ÷ 4) =
50,505,051/200,000,000
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.
202,020,204/800,000,000 =
(22 × 3 × 16,835,017)/(211 × 58) =
((22 × 3 × 16,835,017) ÷ 22) / ((211 × 58) ÷ 22) =
(3 × 16,835,017)/(29 × 58) =
50,505,051/200,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
50,505,051/200,000,000 =
50,505,051 ÷ 200,000,000 =
0.252525255 ≈
0.25