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:
212,116 = 2 × 2 × 19 × 2,791 = 22 × 19 × 2,791
212,116 is a composite number.
299,958 = 2 × 3 × 49,993
299,958 is a composite number.
212,116/299,958 =
(212,116 ÷ 2) / (299,958 ÷ 2) =
106,058/149,979
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.
212,116/299,958 =
(22 × 19 × 2,791)/(2 × 3 × 49,993) =
((22 × 19 × 2,791) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 3 × 49,993) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 19 × 2,791)/(3 × 49,993) =
106,058/149,979
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
106,058/149,979 =
106,058 ÷ 149,979 =
0.70715233466 ≈
0.71