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:
2,317,851 = 3 × 3 × 257,539 = 32 × 257,539
2,317,851 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
9,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 26 × 32 × 56
9,000,000 is a composite number.
2,317,851/9,000,000 =
(2,317,851 ÷ 9) / (9,000,000 ÷ 9) =
257,539/1,000,000
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.
2,317,851/9,000,000 =
(32 × 257,539)/(26 × 32 × 56) =
((32 × 257,539) ÷ 32) / ((26 × 32 × 56) ÷ 32) =
257,539/(26 × 56) =
257,539/1,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
257,539/1,000,000 =
257,539 ÷ 1,000,000 =
0.257539 ≈
0.26