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:
46 = 2 × 23
46 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
500,000,036 = 2 × 2 × 23 × 1,021 × 5,323 = 22 × 23 × 1,021 × 5,323
500,000,036 is a composite number.
46/500,000,036 =
(46 ÷ 46) / (500,000,036 ÷ 46) =
1/10,869,566
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.
46/500,000,036 =
(2 × 23)/(22 × 23 × 1,021 × 5,323) =
((2 × 23) ÷ (2 × 23)) / ((22 × 23 × 1,021 × 5,323) ÷ (2 × 23)) =
1/(2 × 1,021 × 5,323) =
1/10,869,566
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1/10,869,566 =
1 ÷ 10,869,566 =
0.000000092 ≈
0