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:
544 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 17 = 25 × 17
544 is a composite number.
29,999,990 = 2 × 5 × 2,999,999
29,999,990 is a composite number.
544/29,999,990 =
(544 ÷ 2) / (29,999,990 ÷ 2) =
272/14,999,995
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.
544/29,999,990 =
(25 × 17)/(2 × 5 × 2,999,999) =
((25 × 17) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 5 × 2,999,999) ÷ 2) =
(24 × 17)/(5 × 2,999,999) =
272/14,999,995
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
272/14,999,995 =
272 ÷ 14,999,995 =
0.000018133339 ≈
0