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:
3,150 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 7 = 2 × 32 × 52 × 7
3,150 is a composite number.
50,014 = 2 × 17 × 1,471
50,014 is a composite number.
3,150/50,014 =
(3,150 ÷ 2) / (50,014 ÷ 2) =
1,575/25,007
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.
3,150/50,014 =
(2 × 32 × 52 × 7)/(2 × 17 × 1,471) =
((2 × 32 × 52 × 7) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 17 × 1,471) ÷ 2) =
(32 × 52 × 7)/(17 × 1,471) =
1,575/25,007
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,575/25,007 =
1,575 ÷ 25,007 =
0.062982364938 ≈
0.06