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:
2,268 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 7 = 22 × 34 × 7
2,268 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
4,804 = 2 × 2 × 1,201 = 22 × 1,201
4,804 is a composite number.
2,268/4,804 =
(2,268 ÷ 4) / (4,804 ÷ 4) =
567/1,201
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.
2,268/4,804 =
(22 × 34 × 7)/(22 × 1,201) =
((22 × 34 × 7) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 1,201) ÷ 22) =
(34 × 7)/1,201 =
567/1,201
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
567/1,201 =
567 ÷ 1,201 =
0.472106577852 ≈
0.47