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:
342,534 = 2 × 3 × 57,089
342,534 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
599,400 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 37 = 23 × 34 × 52 × 37
599,400 is a composite number.
342,534/599,400 =
(342,534 ÷ 6) / (599,400 ÷ 6) =
57,089/99,900
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.
342,534/599,400 =
(2 × 3 × 57,089)/(23 × 34 × 52 × 37) =
((2 × 3 × 57,089) ÷ (2 × 3)) / ((23 × 34 × 52 × 37) ÷ (2 × 3)) =
57,089/(22 × 33 × 52 × 37) =
57,089/99,900
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
57,089/99,900 =
57,089 ÷ 99,900 =
0.571461461461 ≈
0.57