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:
38 = 2 × 19
38 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
40,000,000,059 = 3 × 3 × 19 × 1,933 × 121,013 = 32 × 19 × 1,933 × 121,013
40,000,000,059 is a composite number.
38/40,000,000,059 =
(38 ÷ 19) / (40,000,000,059 ÷ 19) =
2/2,105,263,161
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.
38/40,000,000,059 =
(2 × 19)/(32 × 19 × 1,933 × 121,013) =
((2 × 19) ÷ 19) / ((32 × 19 × 1,933 × 121,013) ÷ 19) =
2/(32 × 1,933 × 121,013) =
2/2,105,263,161
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2/2,105,263,161 =
2 ÷ 2,105,263,161 =
0.00000000095 ≈
0