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:
24,444,446 = 2 × 13 × 23 × 41 × 997
24,444,446 is a composite number.
200,000,022 = 2 × 3 × 37 × 163 × 5,527
200,000,022 is a composite number.
24,444,446/200,000,022 =
(24,444,446 ÷ 2) / (200,000,022 ÷ 2) =
12,222,223/100,000,011
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.
24,444,446/200,000,022 =
(2 × 13 × 23 × 41 × 997)/(2 × 3 × 37 × 163 × 5,527) =
((2 × 13 × 23 × 41 × 997) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 3 × 37 × 163 × 5,527) ÷ 2) =
(13 × 23 × 41 × 997)/(3 × 37 × 163 × 5,527) =
12,222,223/100,000,011
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
12,222,223/100,000,011 =
12,222,223 ÷ 100,000,011 =
0.122222216556 ≈
0.12