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:
212,135 = 5 × 7 × 11 × 19 × 29
212,135 is a composite number.
299,990 = 2 × 5 × 131 × 229
299,990 is a composite number.
212,135/299,990 =
(212,135 ÷ 5) / (299,990 ÷ 5) =
42,427/59,998
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.
212,135/299,990 =
(5 × 7 × 11 × 19 × 29)/(2 × 5 × 131 × 229) =
((5 × 7 × 11 × 19 × 29) ÷ 5) / ((2 × 5 × 131 × 229) ÷ 5) =
(7 × 11 × 19 × 29)/(2 × 131 × 229) =
42,427/59,998
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
42,427/59,998 =
42,427 ÷ 59,998 =
0.707140238008 ≈
0.71