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:
372 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 31 = 22 × 3 × 31
372 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
29,997 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 11 × 101 = 33 × 11 × 101
29,997 is a composite number.
372/29,997 =
(372 ÷ 3) / (29,997 ÷ 3) =
124/9,999
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.
372/29,997 =
(22 × 3 × 31)/(33 × 11 × 101) =
((22 × 3 × 31) ÷ 3) / ((33 × 11 × 101) ÷ 3) =
(22 × 31)/(32 × 11 × 101) =
124/9,999
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
124/9,999 =
124 ÷ 9,999 =
0.012401240124 ≈
0.01