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:
366,654 = 2 × 3 × 53 × 1,153
366,654 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
2,999,997 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37 = 34 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37
2,999,997 is a composite number.
366,654/2,999,997 =
(366,654 ÷ 3) / (2,999,997 ÷ 3) =
122,218/999,999
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.
366,654/2,999,997 =
(2 × 3 × 53 × 1,153)/(34 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37) =
((2 × 3 × 53 × 1,153) ÷ 3) / ((34 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37) ÷ 3) =
(2 × 53 × 1,153)/(33 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37) =
122,218/999,999
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
122,218/999,999 =
122,218 ÷ 999,999 =
0.122218122218 ≈
0.12