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:
4,588 = 2 × 2 × 31 × 37 = 22 × 31 × 37
4,588 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
5,872 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 367 = 24 × 367
5,872 is a composite number.
4,588/5,872 =
(4,588 ÷ 4) / (5,872 ÷ 4) =
1,147/1,468
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.
4,588/5,872 =
(22 × 31 × 37)/(24 × 367) =
((22 × 31 × 37) ÷ 22) / ((24 × 367) ÷ 22) =
(31 × 37)/(22 × 367) =
1,147/1,468
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,147/1,468 =
1,147 ÷ 1,468 =
0.781335149864 ≈
0.78