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:
5,499,232 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 171,851 = 25 × 171,851
5,499,232 is a composite number.
45,454,526 = 2 × 13 × 43 × 109 × 373
45,454,526 is a composite number.
5,499,232/45,454,526 =
(5,499,232 ÷ 2) / (45,454,526 ÷ 2) =
2,749,616/22,727,263
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.
5,499,232/45,454,526 =
(25 × 171,851)/(2 × 13 × 43 × 109 × 373) =
((25 × 171,851) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 13 × 43 × 109 × 373) ÷ 2) =
(24 × 171,851)/(13 × 43 × 109 × 373) =
2,749,616/22,727,263
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,749,616/22,727,263 =
2,749,616 ÷ 22,727,263 =
0.120983155781 ≈
0.12