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:
4,564 = 2 × 2 × 7 × 163 = 22 × 7 × 163
4,564 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
5,864 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 733 = 23 × 733
5,864 is a composite number.
4,564/5,864 =
(4,564 ÷ 4) / (5,864 ÷ 4) =
1,141/1,466
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.
4,564/5,864 =
(22 × 7 × 163)/(23 × 733) =
((22 × 7 × 163) ÷ 22) / ((23 × 733) ÷ 22) =
(7 × 163)/(2 × 733) =
1,141/1,466
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,141/1,466 =
1,141 ÷ 1,466 =
0.778308321965 ≈
0.78