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:
34,285,716 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 952,381 = 22 × 32 × 952,381
34,285,716 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
80,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 210 × 57
80,000,000 is a composite number.
34,285,716/80,000,000 =
(34,285,716 ÷ 4) / (80,000,000 ÷ 4) =
8,571,429/20,000,000
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.
34,285,716/80,000,000 =
(22 × 32 × 952,381)/(210 × 57) =
((22 × 32 × 952,381) ÷ 22) / ((210 × 57) ÷ 22) =
(32 × 952,381)/(28 × 57) =
8,571,429/20,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
8,571,429/20,000,000 =
8,571,429 ÷ 20,000,000 =
0.42857145 ≈
0.43