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:
4,612 = 2 × 2 × 1,153 = 22 × 1,153
4,612 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
5,880 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 7 = 23 × 3 × 5 × 72
5,880 is a composite number.
4,612/5,880 =
(4,612 ÷ 4) / (5,880 ÷ 4) =
1,153/1,470
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.
4,612/5,880 =
(22 × 1,153)/(23 × 3 × 5 × 72) =
((22 × 1,153) ÷ 22) / ((23 × 3 × 5 × 72) ÷ 22) =
1,153/(2 × 3 × 5 × 72) =
1,153/1,470
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,153/1,470 =
1,153 ÷ 1,470 =
0.784353741497 ≈
0.78