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:
60 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 = 22 × 3 × 5
60 is a composite number.
500,000,043 = 3 × 41 × 59 × 68,899
500,000,043 is a composite number.
60/500,000,043 =
(60 ÷ 3) / (500,000,043 ÷ 3) =
20/166,666,681
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.
60/500,000,043 =
(22 × 3 × 5)/(3 × 41 × 59 × 68,899) =
((22 × 3 × 5) ÷ 3) / ((3 × 41 × 59 × 68,899) ÷ 3) =
(22 × 5)/(41 × 59 × 68,899) =
20/166,666,681
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
20/166,666,681 =
20 ÷ 166,666,681 =
0.00000012 ≈
0