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:
212,124 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 11 × 1,607 = 22 × 3 × 11 × 1,607
212,124 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
299,964 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 7 × 3,571 = 22 × 3 × 7 × 3,571
299,964 is a composite number.
212,124/299,964 =
(212,124 ÷ 12) / (299,964 ÷ 12) =
17,677/24,997
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.
212,124/299,964 =
(22 × 3 × 11 × 1,607)/(22 × 3 × 7 × 3,571) =
((22 × 3 × 11 × 1,607) ÷ (22 × 3)) / ((22 × 3 × 7 × 3,571) ÷ (22 × 3)) =
(11 × 1,607)/(7 × 3,571) =
17,677/24,997
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
17,677/24,997 =
17,677 ÷ 24,997 =
0.707164859783 ≈
0.71