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:
259,939,398 = 2 × 3 × 311 × 139,303
259,939,398 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
600,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 29 × 3 × 58
600,000,000 is a composite number.
259,939,398/600,000,000 =
(259,939,398 ÷ 6) / (600,000,000 ÷ 6) =
43,323,233/100,000,000
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.
259,939,398/600,000,000 =
(2 × 3 × 311 × 139,303)/(29 × 3 × 58) =
((2 × 3 × 311 × 139,303) ÷ (2 × 3)) / ((29 × 3 × 58) ÷ (2 × 3)) =
(311 × 139,303)/(28 × 58) =
43,323,233/100,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
43,323,233/100,000,000 =
43,323,233 ÷ 100,000,000 =
0.43323233 ≈
0.43