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:
5,448 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 227 = 23 × 3 × 227
5,448 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
19,989 = 3 × 3 × 2,221 = 32 × 2,221
19,989 is a composite number.
5,448/19,989 =
(5,448 ÷ 3) / (19,989 ÷ 3) =
1,816/6,663
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.
5,448/19,989 =
(23 × 3 × 227)/(32 × 2,221) =
((23 × 3 × 227) ÷ 3) / ((32 × 2,221) ÷ 3) =
(23 × 227)/(3 × 2,221) =
1,816/6,663
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,816/6,663 =
1,816 ÷ 6,663 =
0.272549902446 ≈
0.27