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:
373,352 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 7 × 59 × 113 = 23 × 7 × 59 × 113
373,352 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
699,993 = 3 × 3 × 7 × 41 × 271 = 32 × 7 × 41 × 271
699,993 is a composite number.
373,352/699,993 =
(373,352 ÷ 7) / (699,993 ÷ 7) =
53,336/99,999
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.
373,352/699,993 =
(23 × 7 × 59 × 113)/(32 × 7 × 41 × 271) =
((23 × 7 × 59 × 113) ÷ 7) / ((32 × 7 × 41 × 271) ÷ 7) =
(23 × 59 × 113)/(32 × 41 × 271) =
53,336/99,999
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
53,336/99,999 =
53,336 ÷ 99,999 =
0.533365333653 ≈
0.53