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:
45 = 3 × 3 × 5 = 32 × 5
45 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
500,000,028 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 11 × 1,123 × 3,373 = 22 × 3 × 11 × 1,123 × 3,373
500,000,028 is a composite number.
45/500,000,028 =
(45 ÷ 3) / (500,000,028 ÷ 3) =
15/166,666,676
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.
45/500,000,028 =
(32 × 5)/(22 × 3 × 11 × 1,123 × 3,373) =
((32 × 5) ÷ 3) / ((22 × 3 × 11 × 1,123 × 3,373) ÷ 3) =
(3 × 5)/(22 × 11 × 1,123 × 3,373) =
15/166,666,676
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
15/166,666,676 =
15 ÷ 166,666,676 =
0.00000009 ≈
0