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:
4,557 = 3 × 7 × 7 × 31 = 3 × 72 × 31
4,557 is a composite number.
123,747 = 3 × 13 × 19 × 167
123,747 is a composite number.
4,557/123,747 =
(4,557 ÷ 3) / (123,747 ÷ 3) =
1,519/41,249
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.
4,557/123,747 =
(3 × 72 × 31)/(3 × 13 × 19 × 167) =
((3 × 72 × 31) ÷ 3) / ((3 × 13 × 19 × 167) ÷ 3) =
(72 × 31)/(13 × 19 × 167) =
1,519/41,249
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,519/41,249 =
1,519 ÷ 41,249 =
0.036825135155 ≈
0.04