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:
4,090,911 = 3 × 11 × 53 × 2,339
4,090,911 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
15,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 26 × 3 × 57
15,000,000 is a composite number.
4,090,911/15,000,000 =
(4,090,911 ÷ 3) / (15,000,000 ÷ 3) =
1,363,637/5,000,000
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.
4,090,911/15,000,000 =
(3 × 11 × 53 × 2,339)/(26 × 3 × 57) =
((3 × 11 × 53 × 2,339) ÷ 3) / ((26 × 3 × 57) ÷ 3) =
(11 × 53 × 2,339)/(26 × 57) =
1,363,637/5,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,363,637/5,000,000 =
1,363,637 ÷ 5,000,000 =
0.2727274 ≈
0.27