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:
5,016 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 11 × 19 = 23 × 3 × 11 × 19
5,016 is a composite number.
99,999,994 = 2 × 1,181 × 42,337
99,999,994 is a composite number.
5,016/99,999,994 =
(5,016 ÷ 2) / (99,999,994 ÷ 2) =
2,508/49,999,997
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.
5,016/99,999,994 =
(23 × 3 × 11 × 19)/(2 × 1,181 × 42,337) =
((23 × 3 × 11 × 19) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 1,181 × 42,337) ÷ 2) =
(22 × 3 × 11 × 19)/(1,181 × 42,337) =
2,508/49,999,997
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,508/49,999,997 =
2,508 ÷ 49,999,997 =
0.000050160003 ≈
0