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:
32,296,268 = 2 × 2 × 43 × 103 × 1,823 = 22 × 43 × 103 × 1,823
32,296,268 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
400,000,032 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 154,321 = 25 × 34 × 154,321
400,000,032 is a composite number.
32,296,268/400,000,032 =
(32,296,268 ÷ 4) / (400,000,032 ÷ 4) =
8,074,067/100,000,008
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.
32,296,268/400,000,032 =
(22 × 43 × 103 × 1,823)/(25 × 34 × 154,321) =
((22 × 43 × 103 × 1,823) ÷ 22) / ((25 × 34 × 154,321) ÷ 22) =
(43 × 103 × 1,823)/(23 × 34 × 154,321) =
8,074,067/100,000,008
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
8,074,067/100,000,008 =
8,074,067 ÷ 100,000,008 =
0.080740663541 ≈
0.08