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:
6 = 2 × 3
6 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
1,999,998 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37 = 2 × 33 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37
1,999,998 is a composite number.
6/1,999,998 =
(6 ÷ 6) / (1,999,998 ÷ 6) =
1/333,333
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.
6/1,999,998 =
(2 × 3)/(2 × 33 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37) =
((2 × 3) ÷ (2 × 3)) / ((2 × 33 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37) ÷ (2 × 3)) =
1/(32 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 37) =
1/333,333
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1/333,333 =
1 ÷ 333,333 =
0.000003000003 ≈
0