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:
5,355 = 3 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 17 = 32 × 5 × 7 × 17
5,355 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
29,997 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 11 × 101 = 33 × 11 × 101
29,997 is a composite number.
5,355/29,997 =
(5,355 ÷ 9) / (29,997 ÷ 9) =
595/3,333
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.
5,355/29,997 =
(32 × 5 × 7 × 17)/(33 × 11 × 101) =
((32 × 5 × 7 × 17) ÷ 32) / ((33 × 11 × 101) ÷ 32) =
(5 × 7 × 17)/(3 × 11 × 101) =
595/3,333
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
595/3,333 =
595 ÷ 3,333 =
0.178517851785 ≈
0.18