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:
5,282 = 2 × 19 × 139
5,282 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
60,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 25 × 3 × 54
60,000 is a composite number.
5,282/60,000 =
(5,282 ÷ 2) / (60,000 ÷ 2) =
2,641/30,000
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.
5,282/60,000 =
(2 × 19 × 139)/(25 × 3 × 54) =
((2 × 19 × 139) ÷ 2) / ((25 × 3 × 54) ÷ 2) =
(19 × 139)/(24 × 3 × 54) =
2,641/30,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,641/30,000 =
2,641 ÷ 30,000 =
0.088033333333 ≈
0.09