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:
363 = 3 × 11 × 11 = 3 × 112
363 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
1,000,120 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 11 × 2,273 = 23 × 5 × 11 × 2,273
1,000,120 is a composite number.
363/1,000,120 =
(363 ÷ 11) / (1,000,120 ÷ 11) =
33/90,920
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.
363/1,000,120 =
(3 × 112)/(23 × 5 × 11 × 2,273) =
((3 × 112) ÷ 11) / ((23 × 5 × 11 × 2,273) ÷ 11) =
(3 × 11)/(23 × 5 × 2,273) =
33/90,920
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
33/90,920 =
33 ÷ 90,920 =
0.000362956445 ≈
0