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:
27,063,333 = 3 × 3 × 11 × 273,367 = 32 × 11 × 273,367
27,063,333 is a composite number.
31,249,986 = 2 × 3 × 73 × 71,347
31,249,986 is a composite number.
27,063,333/31,249,986 =
(27,063,333 ÷ 3) / (31,249,986 ÷ 3) =
9,021,111/10,416,662
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.
27,063,333/31,249,986 =
(32 × 11 × 273,367)/(2 × 3 × 73 × 71,347) =
((32 × 11 × 273,367) ÷ 3) / ((2 × 3 × 73 × 71,347) ÷ 3) =
(3 × 11 × 273,367)/(2 × 73 × 71,347) =
9,021,111/10,416,662
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
9,021,111/10,416,662 =
9,021,111 ÷ 10,416,662 =
0.86602704398 ≈
0.87