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:
27,291,948 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 2,274,329 = 22 × 3 × 2,274,329
27,291,948 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
59,399,901 = 3 × 3 × 11 × 599,999 = 32 × 11 × 599,999
59,399,901 is a composite number.
27,291,948/59,399,901 =
(27,291,948 ÷ 3) / (59,399,901 ÷ 3) =
9,097,316/19,799,967
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.
27,291,948/59,399,901 =
(22 × 3 × 2,274,329)/(32 × 11 × 599,999) =
((22 × 3 × 2,274,329) ÷ 3) / ((32 × 11 × 599,999) ÷ 3) =
(22 × 2,274,329)/(3 × 11 × 599,999) =
9,097,316/19,799,967
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
9,097,316/19,799,967 =
9,097,316 ÷ 19,799,967 =
0.459461169809 ≈
0.46