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:
426,712 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 11 × 13 × 373 = 23 × 11 × 13 × 373
426,712 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
800,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 28 × 55
800,000 is a composite number.
426,712/800,000 =
(426,712 ÷ 8) / (800,000 ÷ 8) =
53,339/100,000
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.
426,712/800,000 =
(23 × 11 × 13 × 373)/(28 × 55) =
((23 × 11 × 13 × 373) ÷ 23) / ((28 × 55) ÷ 23) =
(11 × 13 × 373)/(25 × 55) =
53,339/100,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
53,339/100,000 =
53,339 ÷ 100,000 =
0.53339 ≈
0.53