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:
4,580 = 2 × 2 × 5 × 229 = 22 × 5 × 229
4,580 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
123,705 = 3 × 3 × 5 × 2,749 = 32 × 5 × 2,749
123,705 is a composite number.
4,580/123,705 =
(4,580 ÷ 5) / (123,705 ÷ 5) =
916/24,741
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.
4,580/123,705 =
(22 × 5 × 229)/(32 × 5 × 2,749) =
((22 × 5 × 229) ÷ 5) / ((32 × 5 × 2,749) ÷ 5) =
(22 × 229)/(32 × 2,749) =
916/24,741
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
916/24,741 =
916 ÷ 24,741 =
0.037023564124 ≈
0.04