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:
27,292,028 = 2 × 2 × 31 × 89 × 2,473 = 22 × 31 × 89 × 2,473
27,292,028 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
59,400,024 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 89 × 27,809 = 23 × 3 × 89 × 27,809
59,400,024 is a composite number.
27,292,028/59,400,024 =
(27,292,028 ÷ 356) / (59,400,024 ÷ 356) =
76,663/166,854
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.
27,292,028/59,400,024 =
(22 × 31 × 89 × 2,473)/(23 × 3 × 89 × 27,809) =
((22 × 31 × 89 × 2,473) ÷ (22 × 89)) / ((23 × 3 × 89 × 27,809) ÷ (22 × 89)) =
(31 × 2,473)/(2 × 3 × 27,809) =
76,663/166,854
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
76,663/166,854 =
76,663 ÷ 166,854 =
0.459461565201 ≈
0.46