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:
52 = 2 × 2 × 13 = 22 × 13
52 is a composite number.
500,000,082 = 2 × 3 × 23 × 193 × 18,773
500,000,082 is a composite number.
52/500,000,082 =
(52 ÷ 2) / (500,000,082 ÷ 2) =
26/250,000,041
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.
52/500,000,082 =
(22 × 13)/(2 × 3 × 23 × 193 × 18,773) =
((22 × 13) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 3 × 23 × 193 × 18,773) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 13)/(3 × 23 × 193 × 18,773) =
26/250,000,041
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
26/250,000,041 =
26 ÷ 250,000,041 =
0.000000104 ≈
0