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:
4,650 = 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 31 = 2 × 3 × 52 × 31
4,650 is a composite number.
123,798 = 2 × 3 × 47 × 439
123,798 is a composite number.
4,650/123,798 =
(4,650 ÷ 6) / (123,798 ÷ 6) =
775/20,633
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.
4,650/123,798 =
(2 × 3 × 52 × 31)/(2 × 3 × 47 × 439) =
((2 × 3 × 52 × 31) ÷ (2 × 3)) / ((2 × 3 × 47 × 439) ÷ (2 × 3)) =
(52 × 31)/(47 × 439) =
775/20,633
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
775/20,633 =
775 ÷ 20,633 =
0.037561188388 ≈
0.04