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:
27,291,972 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 79 × 28,789 = 22 × 3 × 79 × 28,789
27,291,972 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
59,399,904 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 17 × 17 × 2,141 = 25 × 3 × 172 × 2,141
59,399,904 is a composite number.
27,291,972/59,399,904 =
(27,291,972 ÷ 12) / (59,399,904 ÷ 12) =
2,274,331/4,949,992
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.
27,291,972/59,399,904 =
(22 × 3 × 79 × 28,789)/(25 × 3 × 172 × 2,141) =
((22 × 3 × 79 × 28,789) ÷ (22 × 3)) / ((25 × 3 × 172 × 2,141) ÷ (22 × 3)) =
(79 × 28,789)/(23 × 172 × 2,141) =
2,274,331/4,949,992
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,274,331/4,949,992 =
2,274,331 ÷ 4,949,992 =
0.459461550645 ≈
0.46