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:
48,510 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 7 × 11 = 2 × 32 × 5 × 72 × 11
48,510 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
69,992 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 13 × 673 = 23 × 13 × 673
69,992 is a composite number.
48,510/69,992 =
(48,510 ÷ 2) / (69,992 ÷ 2) =
24,255/34,996
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.
48,510/69,992 =
(2 × 32 × 5 × 72 × 11)/(23 × 13 × 673) =
((2 × 32 × 5 × 72 × 11) ÷ 2) / ((23 × 13 × 673) ÷ 2) =
(32 × 5 × 72 × 11)/(22 × 13 × 673) =
24,255/34,996
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
24,255/34,996 =
24,255 ÷ 34,996 =
0.693079209052 ≈
0.69