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:
416,695 = 5 × 83,339
416,695 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
3,750,020 = 2 × 2 × 5 × 97 × 1,933 = 22 × 5 × 97 × 1,933
3,750,020 is a composite number.
416,695/3,750,020 =
(416,695 ÷ 5) / (3,750,020 ÷ 5) =
83,339/750,004
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.
416,695/3,750,020 =
(5 × 83,339)/(22 × 5 × 97 × 1,933) =
((5 × 83,339) ÷ 5) / ((22 × 5 × 97 × 1,933) ÷ 5) =
83,339/(22 × 97 × 1,933) =
83,339/750,004
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
83,339/750,004 =
83,339 ÷ 750,004 =
0.111118074037 ≈
0.11