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:
4,498 = 2 × 13 × 173
4,498 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
66,660 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 11 × 101 = 22 × 3 × 5 × 11 × 101
66,660 is a composite number.
4,498/66,660 =
(4,498 ÷ 2) / (66,660 ÷ 2) =
2,249/33,330
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.
4,498/66,660 =
(2 × 13 × 173)/(22 × 3 × 5 × 11 × 101) =
((2 × 13 × 173) ÷ 2) / ((22 × 3 × 5 × 11 × 101) ÷ 2) =
(13 × 173)/(2 × 3 × 5 × 11 × 101) =
2,249/33,330
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,249/33,330 =
2,249 ÷ 33,330 =
0.067476747675 ≈
0.07