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:
49,999,986 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 1,009 × 2,753 = 2 × 32 × 1,009 × 2,753
49,999,986 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
299,999,979 = 3 × 3 × 33,333,331 = 32 × 33,333,331
299,999,979 is a composite number.
49,999,986/299,999,979 =
(49,999,986 ÷ 9) / (299,999,979 ÷ 9) =
5,555,554/33,333,331
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.
49,999,986/299,999,979 =
(2 × 32 × 1,009 × 2,753)/(32 × 33,333,331) =
((2 × 32 × 1,009 × 2,753) ÷ 32) / ((32 × 33,333,331) ÷ 32) =
(2 × 1,009 × 2,753)/33,333,331 =
5,555,554/33,333,331
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
5,555,554/33,333,331 =
5,555,554 ÷ 33,333,331 =
0.166666631667 ≈
0.17