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:
4,257 = 3 × 3 × 11 × 43 = 32 × 11 × 43
4,257 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
9,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 23 × 32 × 53
9,000 is a composite number.
4,257/9,000 =
(4,257 ÷ 9) / (9,000 ÷ 9) =
473/1,000
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.
4,257/9,000 =
(32 × 11 × 43)/(23 × 32 × 53) =
((32 × 11 × 43) ÷ 32) / ((23 × 32 × 53) ÷ 32) =
(11 × 43)/(23 × 53) =
473/1,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
473/1,000 =
473 ÷ 1,000 =
0.473 ≈
0.47