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:
4,656 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 97 = 24 × 3 × 97
4,656 is a composite number.
123,802 = 2 × 7 × 37 × 239
123,802 is a composite number.
4,656/123,802 =
(4,656 ÷ 2) / (123,802 ÷ 2) =
2,328/61,901
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.
4,656/123,802 =
(24 × 3 × 97)/(2 × 7 × 37 × 239) =
((24 × 3 × 97) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 7 × 37 × 239) ÷ 2) =
(23 × 3 × 97)/(7 × 37 × 239) =
2,328/61,901
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,328/61,901 =
2,328 ÷ 61,901 =
0.037608439282 ≈
0.04