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:
2,625 = 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 7 = 3 × 53 × 7
2,625 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
3,984 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 83 = 24 × 3 × 83
3,984 is a composite number.
2,625/3,984 =
(2,625 ÷ 3) / (3,984 ÷ 3) =
875/1,328
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.
2,625/3,984 =
(3 × 53 × 7)/(24 × 3 × 83) =
((3 × 53 × 7) ÷ 3) / ((24 × 3 × 83) ÷ 3) =
(53 × 7)/(24 × 83) =
875/1,328
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
875/1,328 =
875 ÷ 1,328 =
0.658885542169 ≈
0.66