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:
4,832 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 151 = 25 × 151
4,832 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
14,964 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 29 × 43 = 22 × 3 × 29 × 43
14,964 is a composite number.
4,832/14,964 =
(4,832 ÷ 4) / (14,964 ÷ 4) =
1,208/3,741
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.
4,832/14,964 =
(25 × 151)/(22 × 3 × 29 × 43) =
((25 × 151) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 3 × 29 × 43) ÷ 22) =
(23 × 151)/(3 × 29 × 43) =
1,208/3,741
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,208/3,741 =
1,208 ÷ 3,741 =
0.322908313285 ≈
0.32