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:
3,970 = 2 × 5 × 397
3,970 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
8,749,975 = 5 × 5 × 13 × 13 × 19 × 109 = 52 × 132 × 19 × 109
8,749,975 is a composite number.
3,970/8,749,975 =
(3,970 ÷ 5) / (8,749,975 ÷ 5) =
794/1,749,995
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.
3,970/8,749,975 =
(2 × 5 × 397)/(52 × 132 × 19 × 109) =
((2 × 5 × 397) ÷ 5) / ((52 × 132 × 19 × 109) ÷ 5) =
(2 × 397)/(5 × 132 × 19 × 109) =
794/1,749,995
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
794/1,749,995 =
794 ÷ 1,749,995 =
0.000453715582 ≈
0