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:
5,689,585 = 5 × 11 × 31 × 47 × 71
5,689,585 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
12,500,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 28 × 511
12,500,000,000 is a composite number.
5,689,585/12,500,000,000 =
(5,689,585 ÷ 5) / (12,500,000,000 ÷ 5) =
1,137,917/2,500,000,000
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.
5,689,585/12,500,000,000 =
(5 × 11 × 31 × 47 × 71)/(28 × 511) =
((5 × 11 × 31 × 47 × 71) ÷ 5) / ((28 × 511) ÷ 5) =
(11 × 31 × 47 × 71)/(28 × 510) =
1,137,917/2,500,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,137,917/2,500,000,000 =
1,137,917 ÷ 2,500,000,000 =
0.0004551668 ≈
0