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:
2,142,665 = 5 × 7 × 29 × 2,111
2,142,665 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
4,999,500 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 11 × 101 = 22 × 32 × 53 × 11 × 101
4,999,500 is a composite number.
2,142,665/4,999,500 =
(2,142,665 ÷ 5) / (4,999,500 ÷ 5) =
428,533/999,900
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.
2,142,665/4,999,500 =
(5 × 7 × 29 × 2,111)/(22 × 32 × 53 × 11 × 101) =
((5 × 7 × 29 × 2,111) ÷ 5) / ((22 × 32 × 53 × 11 × 101) ÷ 5) =
(7 × 29 × 2,111)/(22 × 32 × 52 × 11 × 101) =
428,533/999,900
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
428,533/999,900 =
428,533 ÷ 999,900 =
0.428575857586 ≈
0.43