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:
5,008 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 313 = 24 × 313
5,008 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
99,999,980 = 2 × 2 × 5 × 4,999,999 = 22 × 5 × 4,999,999
99,999,980 is a composite number.
5,008/99,999,980 =
(5,008 ÷ 4) / (99,999,980 ÷ 4) =
1,252/24,999,995
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.
5,008/99,999,980 =
(24 × 313)/(22 × 5 × 4,999,999) =
((24 × 313) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 5 × 4,999,999) ÷ 22) =
(22 × 313)/(5 × 4,999,999) =
1,252/24,999,995
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,252/24,999,995 =
1,252 ÷ 24,999,995 =
0.00005008001 ≈
0