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:
288 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 = 25 × 32
288 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
13,640 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 11 × 31 = 23 × 5 × 11 × 31
13,640 is a composite number.
288/13,640 =
(288 ÷ 8) / (13,640 ÷ 8) =
36/1,705
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.
288/13,640 =
(25 × 32)/(23 × 5 × 11 × 31) =
((25 × 32) ÷ 23) / ((23 × 5 × 11 × 31) ÷ 23) =
(22 × 32)/(5 × 11 × 31) =
36/1,705
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
36/1,705 =
36 ÷ 1,705 =
0.021114369501 ≈
0.02