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:
40,540,526 = 2 × 13 × 1,193 × 1,307
40,540,526 is a composite number.
59,999,982 = 2 × 3 × 7 × 1,428,571
59,999,982 is a composite number.
40,540,526/59,999,982 =
(40,540,526 ÷ 2) / (59,999,982 ÷ 2) =
20,270,263/29,999,991
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.
40,540,526/59,999,982 =
(2 × 13 × 1,193 × 1,307)/(2 × 3 × 7 × 1,428,571) =
((2 × 13 × 1,193 × 1,307) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 3 × 7 × 1,428,571) ÷ 2) =
(13 × 1,193 × 1,307)/(3 × 7 × 1,428,571) =
20,270,263/29,999,991
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
20,270,263/29,999,991 =
20,270,263 ÷ 29,999,991 =
0.675675636036 ≈
0.68