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:
4,380 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 73 = 22 × 3 × 5 × 73
4,380 is a composite number.
69,998 = 2 × 31 × 1,129
69,998 is a composite number.
4,380/69,998 =
(4,380 ÷ 2) / (69,998 ÷ 2) =
2,190/34,999
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.
4,380/69,998 =
(22 × 3 × 5 × 73)/(2 × 31 × 1,129) =
((22 × 3 × 5 × 73) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 31 × 1,129) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 3 × 5 × 73)/(31 × 1,129) =
2,190/34,999
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,190/34,999 =
2,190 ÷ 34,999 =
0.062573216378 ≈
0.06