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:
466,664 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 11 × 5,303 = 23 × 11 × 5,303
466,664 is a composite number.
1,750,001 = 11 × 23 × 6,917
1,750,001 is a composite number.
466,664/1,750,001 =
(466,664 ÷ 11) / (1,750,001 ÷ 11) =
42,424/159,091
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.
466,664/1,750,001 =
(23 × 11 × 5,303)/(11 × 23 × 6,917) =
((23 × 11 × 5,303) ÷ 11) / ((11 × 23 × 6,917) ÷ 11) =
(23 × 5,303)/(23 × 6,917) =
42,424/159,091
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
42,424/159,091 =
42,424 ÷ 159,091 =
0.266664990477 ≈
0.27