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:
4,598 = 2 × 11 × 11 × 19 = 2 × 112 × 19
4,598 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
5,872 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 367 = 24 × 367
5,872 is a composite number.
4,598/5,872 =
(4,598 ÷ 2) / (5,872 ÷ 2) =
2,299/2,936
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.
4,598/5,872 =
(2 × 112 × 19)/(24 × 367) =
((2 × 112 × 19) ÷ 2) / ((24 × 367) ÷ 2) =
(112 × 19)/(23 × 367) =
2,299/2,936
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,299/2,936 =
2,299 ÷ 2,936 =
0.783038147139 ≈
0.78