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:
555,544 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 11 × 59 × 107 = 23 × 11 × 59 × 107
555,544 is a composite number.
3,999,990 = 2 × 3 × 5 × 151 × 883
3,999,990 is a composite number.
555,544/3,999,990 =
(555,544 ÷ 2) / (3,999,990 ÷ 2) =
277,772/1,999,995
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.
555,544/3,999,990 =
(23 × 11 × 59 × 107)/(2 × 3 × 5 × 151 × 883) =
((23 × 11 × 59 × 107) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 3 × 5 × 151 × 883) ÷ 2) =
(22 × 11 × 59 × 107)/(3 × 5 × 151 × 883) =
277,772/1,999,995
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
277,772/1,999,995 =
277,772 ÷ 1,999,995 =
0.138886347216 ≈
0.14