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:
466,654 = 2 × 233,327
466,654 is a composite number.
1,749,990 = 2 × 3 × 5 × 11 × 5,303
1,749,990 is a composite number.
466,654/1,749,990 =
(466,654 ÷ 2) / (1,749,990 ÷ 2) =
233,327/874,995
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.
466,654/1,749,990 =
(2 × 233,327)/(2 × 3 × 5 × 11 × 5,303) =
((2 × 233,327) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 3 × 5 × 11 × 5,303) ÷ 2) =
233,327/(3 × 5 × 11 × 5,303) =
233,327/874,995
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
233,327/874,995 =
233,327 ÷ 874,995 =
0.266660952348 ≈
0.27