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:
34,965 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 37 = 33 × 5 × 7 × 37
34,965 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
153,855 = 3 × 3 × 5 × 13 × 263 = 32 × 5 × 13 × 263
153,855 is a composite number.
34,965/153,855 =
(34,965 ÷ 45) / (153,855 ÷ 45) =
777/3,419
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.
34,965/153,855 =
(33 × 5 × 7 × 37)/(32 × 5 × 13 × 263) =
((33 × 5 × 7 × 37) ÷ (32 × 5)) / ((32 × 5 × 13 × 263) ÷ (32 × 5)) =
(3 × 7 × 37)/(13 × 263) =
777/3,419
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
777/3,419 =
777 ÷ 3,419 =
0.227259432583 ≈
0.23