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:
3,465 = 3 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 = 32 × 5 × 7 × 11
3,465 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
5,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 23 × 54
5,000 is a composite number.
3,465/5,000 =
(3,465 ÷ 5) / (5,000 ÷ 5) =
693/1,000
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.
3,465/5,000 =
(32 × 5 × 7 × 11)/(23 × 54) =
((32 × 5 × 7 × 11) ÷ 5) / ((23 × 54) ÷ 5) =
(32 × 7 × 11)/(23 × 53) =
693/1,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
693/1,000 =
693 ÷ 1,000 =
0.693 ≈
0.69