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:
240 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 = 24 × 3 × 5
240 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
9,016 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 7 × 7 × 23 = 23 × 72 × 23
9,016 is a composite number.
240/9,016 =
(240 ÷ 8) / (9,016 ÷ 8) =
30/1,127
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.
240/9,016 =
(24 × 3 × 5)/(23 × 72 × 23) =
((24 × 3 × 5) ÷ 23) / ((23 × 72 × 23) ÷ 23) =
(2 × 3 × 5)/(72 × 23) =
30/1,127
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
30/1,127 =
30 ÷ 1,127 =
0.02661934339 ≈
0.03