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:
214,773 = 3 × 13 × 5,507
214,773 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
337,500 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 22 × 33 × 55
337,500 is a composite number.
214,773/337,500 =
(214,773 ÷ 3) / (337,500 ÷ 3) =
71,591/112,500
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.
214,773/337,500 =
(3 × 13 × 5,507)/(22 × 33 × 55) =
((3 × 13 × 5,507) ÷ 3) / ((22 × 33 × 55) ÷ 3) =
(13 × 5,507)/(22 × 32 × 55) =
71,591/112,500
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
71,591/112,500 =
71,591 ÷ 112,500 =
0.636364444444 ≈
0.64