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:
249,999 = 3 × 167 × 499
249,999 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
1,500,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 25 × 3 × 56
1,500,000 is a composite number.
249,999/1,500,000 =
(249,999 ÷ 3) / (1,500,000 ÷ 3) =
83,333/500,000
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.
249,999/1,500,000 =
(3 × 167 × 499)/(25 × 3 × 56) =
((3 × 167 × 499) ÷ 3) / ((25 × 3 × 56) ÷ 3) =
(167 × 499)/(25 × 56) =
83,333/500,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
83,333/500,000 =
83,333 ÷ 500,000 =
0.166666 ≈
0.17