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:
342,542 = 2 × 171,271
342,542 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
599,404 = 2 × 2 × 13 × 11,527 = 22 × 13 × 11,527
599,404 is a composite number.
342,542/599,404 =
(342,542 ÷ 2) / (599,404 ÷ 2) =
171,271/299,702
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.
342,542/599,404 =
(2 × 171,271)/(22 × 13 × 11,527) =
((2 × 171,271) ÷ 2) / ((22 × 13 × 11,527) ÷ 2) =
171,271/(2 × 13 × 11,527) =
171,271/299,702
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
171,271/299,702 =
171,271 ÷ 299,702 =
0.571470994521 ≈
0.57