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:
40 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 = 23 × 5
40 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
40,000,000,092 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 13 × 29 × 8,841,733 = 22 × 3 × 13 × 29 × 8,841,733
40,000,000,092 is a composite number.
40/40,000,000,092 =
(40 ÷ 4) / (40,000,000,092 ÷ 4) =
10/10,000,000,023
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.
40/40,000,000,092 =
(23 × 5)/(22 × 3 × 13 × 29 × 8,841,733) =
((23 × 5) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 3 × 13 × 29 × 8,841,733) ÷ 22) =
(2 × 5)/(3 × 13 × 29 × 8,841,733) =
10/10,000,000,023
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
10/10,000,000,023 =
10 ÷ 10,000,000,023 =
0.000000001 ≈
0