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:
4,838 = 2 × 41 × 59
4,838 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
14,960 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 11 × 17 = 24 × 5 × 11 × 17
14,960 is a composite number.
4,838/14,960 =
(4,838 ÷ 2) / (14,960 ÷ 2) =
2,419/7,480
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.
4,838/14,960 =
(2 × 41 × 59)/(24 × 5 × 11 × 17) =
((2 × 41 × 59) ÷ 2) / ((24 × 5 × 11 × 17) ÷ 2) =
(41 × 59)/(23 × 5 × 11 × 17) =
2,419/7,480
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,419/7,480 =
2,419 ÷ 7,480 =
0.323395721925 ≈
0.32