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:
27,063,356 = 2 × 2 × 787 × 8,597 = 22 × 787 × 8,597
27,063,356 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
31,250,012 = 2 × 2 × 17 × 181 × 2,539 = 22 × 17 × 181 × 2,539
31,250,012 is a composite number.
27,063,356/31,250,012 =
(27,063,356 ÷ 4) / (31,250,012 ÷ 4) =
6,765,839/7,812,503
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.
27,063,356/31,250,012 =
(22 × 787 × 8,597)/(22 × 17 × 181 × 2,539) =
((22 × 787 × 8,597) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 17 × 181 × 2,539) ÷ 22) =
(787 × 8,597)/(17 × 181 × 2,539) =
6,765,839/7,812,503
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
6,765,839/7,812,503 =
6,765,839 ÷ 7,812,503 =
0.866027059446 ≈
0.87