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:
2,424 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 101 = 23 × 3 × 101
2,424 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
3,015 = 3 × 3 × 5 × 67 = 32 × 5 × 67
3,015 is a composite number.
2,424/3,015 =
(2,424 ÷ 3) / (3,015 ÷ 3) =
808/1,005
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.
2,424/3,015 =
(23 × 3 × 101)/(32 × 5 × 67) =
((23 × 3 × 101) ÷ 3) / ((32 × 5 × 67) ÷ 3) =
(23 × 101)/(3 × 5 × 67) =
808/1,005
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
808/1,005 =
808 ÷ 1,005 =
0.803980099502 ≈
0.8