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:
500,000,060 = 2 × 2 × 5 × 7 × 3,571,429 = 22 × 5 × 7 × 3,571,429
500,000,060 is a composite number.
32/500,000,060 =
(32 ÷ 4) / (500,000,060 ÷ 4) =
8/125,000,015
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.
32/500,000,060 =
25/(22 × 5 × 7 × 3,571,429) =
(25 ÷ 22) / ((22 × 5 × 7 × 3,571,429) ÷ 22) =
23/(5 × 7 × 3,571,429) =
8/125,000,015
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
8/125,000,015 =
8 ÷ 125,000,015 =
0.000000064 ≈
0