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:
3,124 = 2 × 2 × 11 × 71 = 22 × 11 × 71
3,124 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
49,986 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 2,777 = 2 × 32 × 2,777
49,986 is a composite number.
3,124/49,986 =
(3,124 ÷ 2) / (49,986 ÷ 2) =
1,562/24,993
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.
3,124/49,986 =
(22 × 11 × 71)/(2 × 32 × 2,777) =
((22 × 11 × 71) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 32 × 2,777) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 11 × 71)/(32 × 2,777) =
1,562/24,993
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,562/24,993 =
1,562 ÷ 24,993 =
0.0624974993 ≈
0.06