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:
4,388 = 2 × 2 × 1,097 = 22 × 1,097
4,388 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
70,004 = 2 × 2 × 11 × 37 × 43 = 22 × 11 × 37 × 43
70,004 is a composite number.
4,388/70,004 =
(4,388 ÷ 4) / (70,004 ÷ 4) =
1,097/17,501
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.
4,388/70,004 =
(22 × 1,097)/(22 × 11 × 37 × 43) =
((22 × 1,097) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 11 × 37 × 43) ÷ 22) =
1,097/(11 × 37 × 43) =
1,097/17,501
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,097/17,501 =
1,097 ÷ 17,501 =
0.06268213245 ≈
0.06