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:
433,012,706 = 2 × 7 × 7 × 4,418,497 = 2 × 72 × 4,418,497
433,012,706 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
500,000,002 = 2 × 41 × 41 × 148,721 = 2 × 412 × 148,721
500,000,002 is a composite number.
433,012,706/500,000,002 =
(433,012,706 ÷ 2) / (500,000,002 ÷ 2) =
216,506,353/250,000,001
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.
433,012,706/500,000,002 =
(2 × 72 × 4,418,497)/(2 × 412 × 148,721) =
((2 × 72 × 4,418,497) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 412 × 148,721) ÷ 2) =
(72 × 4,418,497)/(412 × 148,721) =
216,506,353/250,000,001
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
216,506,353/250,000,001 =
216,506,353 ÷ 250,000,001 =
0.866025408536 ≈
0.87