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:
4,566 = 2 × 3 × 761
4,566 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
123,700 = 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 1,237 = 22 × 52 × 1,237
123,700 is a composite number.
4,566/123,700 =
(4,566 ÷ 2) / (123,700 ÷ 2) =
2,283/61,850
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.
4,566/123,700 =
(2 × 3 × 761)/(22 × 52 × 1,237) =
((2 × 3 × 761) ÷ 2) / ((22 × 52 × 1,237) ÷ 2) =
(3 × 761)/(2 × 52 × 1,237) =
2,283/61,850
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,283/61,850 =
2,283 ÷ 61,850 =
0.036911883589 ≈
0.04