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:
413,203 = 7 × 59,029
413,203 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
2,333,331 = 3 × 3 × 7 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37 = 32 × 72 × 11 × 13 × 37
2,333,331 is a composite number.
413,203/2,333,331 =
(413,203 ÷ 7) / (2,333,331 ÷ 7) =
59,029/333,333
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.
413,203/2,333,331 =
(7 × 59,029)/(32 × 72 × 11 × 13 × 37) =
((7 × 59,029) ÷ 7) / ((32 × 72 × 11 × 13 × 37) ÷ 7) =
59,029/(32 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37) =
59,029/333,333
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
59,029/333,333 =
59,029 ÷ 333,333 =
0.177087177087 ≈
0.18