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:
3,087 = 3 × 3 × 7 × 7 × 7 = 32 × 73
3,087 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
3,984 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 83 = 24 × 3 × 83
3,984 is a composite number.
3,087/3,984 =
(3,087 ÷ 3) / (3,984 ÷ 3) =
1,029/1,328
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.
3,087/3,984 =
(32 × 73)/(24 × 3 × 83) =
((32 × 73) ÷ 3) / ((24 × 3 × 83) ÷ 3) =
(3 × 73)/(24 × 83) =
1,029/1,328
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,029/1,328 =
1,029 ÷ 1,328 =
0.77484939759 ≈
0.77