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:
3,768 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 157 = 23 × 3 × 157
3,768 is a composite number.
13,332,090 = 2 × 3 × 5 × 444,403
13,332,090 is a composite number.
3,768/13,332,090 =
(3,768 ÷ 6) / (13,332,090 ÷ 6) =
628/2,222,015
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.
3,768/13,332,090 =
(23 × 3 × 157)/(2 × 3 × 5 × 444,403) =
((23 × 3 × 157) ÷ (2 × 3)) / ((2 × 3 × 5 × 444,403) ÷ (2 × 3)) =
(22 × 157)/(5 × 444,403) =
628/2,222,015
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
628/2,222,015 =
628 ÷ 2,222,015 =
0.000282626355 ≈
0