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:
4,586 = 2 × 2,293
4,586 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
123,720 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 1,031 = 23 × 3 × 5 × 1,031
123,720 is a composite number.
4,586/123,720 =
(4,586 ÷ 2) / (123,720 ÷ 2) =
2,293/61,860
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.
4,586/123,720 =
(2 × 2,293)/(23 × 3 × 5 × 1,031) =
((2 × 2,293) ÷ 2) / ((23 × 3 × 5 × 1,031) ÷ 2) =
2,293/(22 × 3 × 5 × 1,031) =
2,293/61,860
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,293/61,860 =
2,293 ÷ 61,860 =
0.037067571937 ≈
0.04