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:
528 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 11 = 24 × 3 × 11
528 is a composite number.
899,990 = 2 × 5 × 7 × 13 × 23 × 43
899,990 is a composite number.
528/899,990 =
(528 ÷ 2) / (899,990 ÷ 2) =
264/449,995
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.
528/899,990 =
(24 × 3 × 11)/(2 × 5 × 7 × 13 × 23 × 43) =
((24 × 3 × 11) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 5 × 7 × 13 × 23 × 43) ÷ 2) =
(23 × 3 × 11)/(5 × 7 × 13 × 23 × 43) =
264/449,995
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
264/449,995 =
264 ÷ 449,995 =
0.000586673185 ≈
0