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:
4,584 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 191 = 23 × 3 × 191
4,584 is a composite number.
123,726 = 2 × 3 × 17 × 1,213
123,726 is a composite number.
4,584/123,726 =
(4,584 ÷ 6) / (123,726 ÷ 6) =
764/20,621
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.
4,584/123,726 =
(23 × 3 × 191)/(2 × 3 × 17 × 1,213) =
((23 × 3 × 191) ÷ (2 × 3)) / ((2 × 3 × 17 × 1,213) ÷ (2 × 3)) =
(22 × 191)/(17 × 1,213) =
764/20,621
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
764/20,621 =
764 ÷ 20,621 =
0.037049609621 ≈
0.04