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:
233,841 = 3 × 23 × 3,389
233,841 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
270,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 24 × 33 × 54
270,000 is a composite number.
233,841/270,000 =
(233,841 ÷ 3) / (270,000 ÷ 3) =
77,947/90,000
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.
233,841/270,000 =
(3 × 23 × 3,389)/(24 × 33 × 54) =
((3 × 23 × 3,389) ÷ 3) / ((24 × 33 × 54) ÷ 3) =
(23 × 3,389)/(24 × 32 × 54) =
77,947/90,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
77,947/90,000 =
77,947 ÷ 90,000 =
0.866077777778 ≈
0.87