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:
32 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 25
32 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
363,636 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 7 × 13 × 37 = 22 × 33 × 7 × 13 × 37
363,636 is a composite number.
32/363,636 =
(32 ÷ 4) / (363,636 ÷ 4) =
8/90,909
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.
32/363,636 =
25/(22 × 33 × 7 × 13 × 37) =
(25 ÷ 22) / ((22 × 33 × 7 × 13 × 37) ÷ 22) =
23/(33 × 7 × 13 × 37) =
8/90,909
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
8/90,909 =
8 ÷ 90,909 =
0.000088000088 ≈
0