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:
48,525 = 3 × 5 × 5 × 647 = 3 × 52 × 647
48,525 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
70,008 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 2,917 = 23 × 3 × 2,917
70,008 is a composite number.
48,525/70,008 =
(48,525 ÷ 3) / (70,008 ÷ 3) =
16,175/23,336
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.
48,525/70,008 =
(3 × 52 × 647)/(23 × 3 × 2,917) =
((3 × 52 × 647) ÷ 3) / ((23 × 3 × 2,917) ÷ 3) =
(52 × 647)/(23 × 2,917) =
16,175/23,336
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
16,175/23,336 =
16,175 ÷ 23,336 =
0.693135070278 ≈
0.69