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:
441 = 3 × 3 × 7 × 7 = 32 × 72
441 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
300,027 = 3 × 7 × 7 × 13 × 157 = 3 × 72 × 13 × 157
300,027 is a composite number.
441/300,027 =
(441 ÷ 147) / (300,027 ÷ 147) =
3/2,041
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.
441/300,027 =
(32 × 72)/(3 × 72 × 13 × 157) =
((32 × 72) ÷ (3 × 72)) / ((3 × 72 × 13 × 157) ÷ (3 × 72)) =
3/(13 × 157) =
3/2,041
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
3/2,041 =
3 ÷ 2,041 =
0.001469867712 ≈
0