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:
308 = 2 × 2 × 7 × 11 = 22 × 7 × 11
308 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
7,696 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 13 × 37 = 24 × 13 × 37
7,696 is a composite number.
308/7,696 =
(308 ÷ 4) / (7,696 ÷ 4) =
77/1,924
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.
308/7,696 =
(22 × 7 × 11)/(24 × 13 × 37) =
((22 × 7 × 11) ÷ 22) / ((24 × 13 × 37) ÷ 22) =
(7 × 11)/(22 × 13 × 37) =
77/1,924
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
77/1,924 =
77 ÷ 1,924 =
0.040020790021 ≈
0.04