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:
3,988 = 2 × 2 × 997 = 22 × 997
3,988 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
8,749,994 = 2 × 11 × 11 × 11 × 19 × 173 = 2 × 113 × 19 × 173
8,749,994 is a composite number.
3,988/8,749,994 =
(3,988 ÷ 2) / (8,749,994 ÷ 2) =
1,994/4,374,997
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.
3,988/8,749,994 =
(22 × 997)/(2 × 113 × 19 × 173) =
((22 × 997) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 113 × 19 × 173) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 997)/(113 × 19 × 173) =
1,994/4,374,997
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,994/4,374,997 =
1,994 ÷ 4,374,997 =
0.000455771741 ≈
0