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:
32,296,264 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37 × 109 = 23 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37 × 109
32,296,264 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
400,000,028 = 2 × 2 × 100,000,007 = 22 × 100,000,007
400,000,028 is a composite number.
32,296,264/400,000,028 =
(32,296,264 ÷ 4) / (400,000,028 ÷ 4) =
8,074,066/100,000,007
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.
32,296,264/400,000,028 =
(23 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37 × 109)/(22 × 100,000,007) =
((23 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37 × 109) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 100,000,007) ÷ 22) =
(2 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37 × 109)/100,000,007 =
8,074,066/100,000,007
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
8,074,066/100,000,007 =
8,074,066 ÷ 100,000,007 =
0.080740654348 ≈
0.08