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:
3,499,990 = 2 × 5 × 13 × 13 × 19 × 109 = 2 × 5 × 132 × 19 × 109
3,499,990 is a composite number.
30,000,002 = 2 × 17 × 31 × 28,463
30,000,002 is a composite number.
3,499,990/30,000,002 =
(3,499,990 ÷ 2) / (30,000,002 ÷ 2) =
1,749,995/15,000,001
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.
3,499,990/30,000,002 =
(2 × 5 × 132 × 19 × 109)/(2 × 17 × 31 × 28,463) =
((2 × 5 × 132 × 19 × 109) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 17 × 31 × 28,463) ÷ 2) =
(5 × 132 × 19 × 109)/(17 × 31 × 28,463) =
1,749,995/15,000,001
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,749,995/15,000,001 =
1,749,995 ÷ 15,000,001 =
0.116666325556 ≈
0.12