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:
31,714,338 = 2 × 3 × 1,669 × 3,167
31,714,338 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
55,500,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 37 = 25 × 3 × 56 × 37
55,500,000 is a composite number.
31,714,338/55,500,000 =
(31,714,338 ÷ 6) / (55,500,000 ÷ 6) =
5,285,723/9,250,000
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.
31,714,338/55,500,000 =
(2 × 3 × 1,669 × 3,167)/(25 × 3 × 56 × 37) =
((2 × 3 × 1,669 × 3,167) ÷ (2 × 3)) / ((25 × 3 × 56 × 37) ÷ (2 × 3)) =
(1,669 × 3,167)/(24 × 56 × 37) =
5,285,723/9,250,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
5,285,723/9,250,000 =
5,285,723 ÷ 9,250,000 =
0.571429513514 ≈
0.57