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:
23,703,704 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2,962,963 = 23 × 2,962,963
23,703,704 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
44,444,424 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 1,851,851 = 23 × 3 × 1,851,851
44,444,424 is a composite number.
23,703,704/44,444,424 =
(23,703,704 ÷ 8) / (44,444,424 ÷ 8) =
2,962,963/5,555,553
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.
23,703,704/44,444,424 =
(23 × 2,962,963)/(23 × 3 × 1,851,851) =
((23 × 2,962,963) ÷ 23) / ((23 × 3 × 1,851,851) ÷ 23) =
2,962,963/(3 × 1,851,851) =
2,962,963/5,555,553
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,962,963/5,555,553 =
2,962,963 ÷ 5,555,553 =
0.533333585333 ≈
0.53