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:
588 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 7 × 7 = 22 × 3 × 72
588 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
142,857 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 11 × 13 × 37 = 33 × 11 × 13 × 37
142,857 is a composite number.
588/142,857 =
(588 ÷ 3) / (142,857 ÷ 3) =
196/47,619
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.
588/142,857 =
(22 × 3 × 72)/(33 × 11 × 13 × 37) =
((22 × 3 × 72) ÷ 3) / ((33 × 11 × 13 × 37) ÷ 3) =
(22 × 72)/(32 × 11 × 13 × 37) =
196/47,619
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
196/47,619 =
196 ÷ 47,619 =
0.004116004116 ≈
0