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:
3,048 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 127 = 23 × 3 × 127
3,048 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
70,068 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 5,839 = 22 × 3 × 5,839
70,068 is a composite number.
3,048/70,068 =
(3,048 ÷ 12) / (70,068 ÷ 12) =
254/5,839
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.
3,048/70,068 =
(23 × 3 × 127)/(22 × 3 × 5,839) =
((23 × 3 × 127) ÷ (22 × 3)) / ((22 × 3 × 5,839) ÷ (22 × 3)) =
(2 × 127)/5,839 =
254/5,839
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
254/5,839 =
254 ÷ 5,839 =
0.043500599418 ≈
0.04