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:
4,592 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 7 × 41 = 24 × 7 × 41
4,592 is a composite number.
123,730 = 2 × 5 × 12,373
123,730 is a composite number.
4,592/123,730 =
(4,592 ÷ 2) / (123,730 ÷ 2) =
2,296/61,865
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.
4,592/123,730 =
(24 × 7 × 41)/(2 × 5 × 12,373) =
((24 × 7 × 41) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 5 × 12,373) ÷ 2) =
(23 × 7 × 41)/(5 × 12,373) =
2,296/61,865
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,296/61,865 =
2,296 ÷ 61,865 =
0.037113068779 ≈
0.04