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.
Written with exponents:
500,000,084 = 2 × 2 × 41 × 3,048,781 = 22 × 41 × 3,048,781
500,000,084 is a composite number.
52/500,000,084 =
(52 ÷ 4) / (500,000,084 ÷ 4) =
13/125,000,021
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.
52/500,000,084 =
(22 × 13)/(22 × 41 × 3,048,781) =
((22 × 13) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 41 × 3,048,781) ÷ 22) =
13/(41 × 3,048,781) =
13/125,000,021
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
13/125,000,021 =
13 ÷ 125,000,021 =
0.000000104 ≈
0