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:
4,604 = 2 × 2 × 1,151 = 22 × 1,151
4,604 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
123,736 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 15,467 = 23 × 15,467
123,736 is a composite number.
4,604/123,736 =
(4,604 ÷ 4) / (123,736 ÷ 4) =
1,151/30,934
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.
4,604/123,736 =
(22 × 1,151)/(23 × 15,467) =
((22 × 1,151) ÷ 22) / ((23 × 15,467) ÷ 22) =
1,151/(2 × 15,467) =
1,151/30,934
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,151/30,934 =
1,151 ÷ 30,934 =
0.037208249822 ≈
0.04