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:
4,404 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 367 = 22 × 3 × 367
4,404 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
5,008 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 313 = 24 × 313
5,008 is a composite number.
4,404/5,008 =
(4,404 ÷ 4) / (5,008 ÷ 4) =
1,101/1,252
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.
4,404/5,008 =
(22 × 3 × 367)/(24 × 313) =
((22 × 3 × 367) ÷ 22) / ((24 × 313) ÷ 22) =
(3 × 367)/(22 × 313) =
1,101/1,252
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,101/1,252 =
1,101 ÷ 1,252 =
0.879392971246 ≈
0.88