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:
500,000,032 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 7 × 251 × 8,893 = 25 × 7 × 251 × 8,893
500,000,032 is a composite number.
6/500,000,032 =
(6 ÷ 2) / (500,000,032 ÷ 2) =
3/250,000,016
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.
6/500,000,032 =
(2 × 3)/(25 × 7 × 251 × 8,893) =
((2 × 3) ÷ 2) / ((25 × 7 × 251 × 8,893) ÷ 2) =
3/(24 × 7 × 251 × 8,893) =
3/250,000,016
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
3/250,000,016 =
3 ÷ 250,000,016 =
0.000000012 ≈
0