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:
27,063,315 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 19 × 3,517 = 34 × 5 × 19 × 3,517
27,063,315 is a composite number.
31,249,983 = 3 × 1,493 × 6,977
31,249,983 is a composite number.
27,063,315/31,249,983 =
(27,063,315 ÷ 3) / (31,249,983 ÷ 3) =
9,021,105/10,416,661
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.
27,063,315/31,249,983 =
(34 × 5 × 19 × 3,517)/(3 × 1,493 × 6,977) =
((34 × 5 × 19 × 3,517) ÷ 3) / ((3 × 1,493 × 6,977) ÷ 3) =
(33 × 5 × 19 × 3,517)/(1,493 × 6,977) =
9,021,105/10,416,661
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
9,021,105/10,416,661 =
9,021,105 ÷ 10,416,661 =
0.866026551118 ≈
0.87