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:
552 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 23 = 23 × 3 × 23
552 is a composite number.
29,999,981 = 11 × 23 × 283 × 419
29,999,981 is a composite number.
552/29,999,981 =
(552 ÷ 23) / (29,999,981 ÷ 23) =
24/1,304,347
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.
552/29,999,981 =
(23 × 3 × 23)/(11 × 23 × 283 × 419) =
((23 × 3 × 23) ÷ 23) / ((11 × 23 × 283 × 419) ÷ 23) =
(23 × 3)/(11 × 283 × 419) =
24/1,304,347
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
24/1,304,347 =
24 ÷ 1,304,347 =
0.000018400012 ≈
0