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:
5,265 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 13 = 34 × 5 × 13
5,265 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
12,500 = 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 22 × 55
12,500 is a composite number.
5,265/12,500 =
(5,265 ÷ 5) / (12,500 ÷ 5) =
1,053/2,500
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.
5,265/12,500 =
(34 × 5 × 13)/(22 × 55) =
((34 × 5 × 13) ÷ 5) / ((22 × 55) ÷ 5) =
(34 × 13)/(22 × 54) =
1,053/2,500
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,053/2,500 =
1,053 ÷ 2,500 =
0.4212 ≈
0.42