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:
3,515,644 = 2 × 2 × 11 × 79,901 = 22 × 11 × 79,901
3,515,644 is a composite number.
6,000,014 = 2 × 17 × 109 × 1,619
6,000,014 is a composite number.
3,515,644/6,000,014 =
(3,515,644 ÷ 2) / (6,000,014 ÷ 2) =
1,757,822/3,000,007
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.
3,515,644/6,000,014 =
(22 × 11 × 79,901)/(2 × 17 × 109 × 1,619) =
((22 × 11 × 79,901) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 17 × 109 × 1,619) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 11 × 79,901)/(17 × 109 × 1,619) =
1,757,822/3,000,007
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,757,822/3,000,007 =
1,757,822 ÷ 3,000,007 =
0.585939299475 ≈
0.59