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:
3,030,290 = 2 × 5 × 303,029
3,030,290 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
24,999,996 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 7 × 7 × 17 × 41 × 61 = 22 × 3 × 72 × 17 × 41 × 61
24,999,996 is a composite number.
3,030,290/24,999,996 =
(3,030,290 ÷ 2) / (24,999,996 ÷ 2) =
1,515,145/12,499,998
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.
3,030,290/24,999,996 =
(2 × 5 × 303,029)/(22 × 3 × 72 × 17 × 41 × 61) =
((2 × 5 × 303,029) ÷ 2) / ((22 × 3 × 72 × 17 × 41 × 61) ÷ 2) =
(5 × 303,029)/(2 × 3 × 72 × 17 × 41 × 61) =
1,515,145/12,499,998
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,515,145/12,499,998 =
1,515,145 ÷ 12,499,998 =
0.121211619394 ≈
0.12