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:
2,800,002 = 2 × 3 × 17 × 97 × 283
2,800,002 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
12,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 28 × 3 × 56
12,000,000 is a composite number.
2,800,002/12,000,000 =
(2,800,002 ÷ 6) / (12,000,000 ÷ 6) =
466,667/2,000,000
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.
2,800,002/12,000,000 =
(2 × 3 × 17 × 97 × 283)/(28 × 3 × 56) =
((2 × 3 × 17 × 97 × 283) ÷ (2 × 3)) / ((28 × 3 × 56) ÷ (2 × 3)) =
(17 × 97 × 283)/(27 × 56) =
466,667/2,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
466,667/2,000,000 =
466,667 ÷ 2,000,000 =
0.2333335 ≈
0.23