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:
413,200 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 1,033 = 24 × 52 × 1,033
413,200 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
2,333,332 = 2 × 2 × 59 × 9,887 = 22 × 59 × 9,887
2,333,332 is a composite number.
413,200/2,333,332 =
(413,200 ÷ 4) / (2,333,332 ÷ 4) =
103,300/583,333
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.
413,200/2,333,332 =
(24 × 52 × 1,033)/(22 × 59 × 9,887) =
((24 × 52 × 1,033) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 59 × 9,887) ÷ 22) =
(22 × 52 × 1,033)/(59 × 9,887) =
103,300/583,333
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
103,300/583,333 =
103,300 ÷ 583,333 =
0.177085815478 ≈
0.18