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:
2,344,280 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 103 × 569 = 23 × 5 × 103 × 569
2,344,280 is a composite number.
20,000,000,135 = 5 × 8,087 × 494,621
20,000,000,135 is a composite number.
2,344,280/20,000,000,135 =
(2,344,280 ÷ 5) / (20,000,000,135 ÷ 5) =
468,856/4,000,000,027
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.
2,344,280/20,000,000,135 =
(23 × 5 × 103 × 569)/(5 × 8,087 × 494,621) =
((23 × 5 × 103 × 569) ÷ 5) / ((5 × 8,087 × 494,621) ÷ 5) =
(23 × 103 × 569)/(8,087 × 494,621) =
468,856/4,000,000,027
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
468,856/4,000,000,027 =
468,856 ÷ 4,000,000,027 =
0.000117213999 ≈
0