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:
4,605 = 3 × 5 × 307
4,605 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
123,750 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 11 = 2 × 32 × 54 × 11
123,750 is a composite number.
4,605/123,750 =
(4,605 ÷ 15) / (123,750 ÷ 15) =
307/8,250
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.
4,605/123,750 =
(3 × 5 × 307)/(2 × 32 × 54 × 11) =
((3 × 5 × 307) ÷ (3 × 5)) / ((2 × 32 × 54 × 11) ÷ (3 × 5)) =
307/(2 × 3 × 53 × 11) =
307/8,250
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
307/8,250 =
307 ÷ 8,250 =
0.037212121212 ≈
0.04