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:
6,111 = 3 × 3 × 7 × 97 = 32 × 7 × 97
6,111 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
90,012 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 13 × 577 = 22 × 3 × 13 × 577
90,012 is a composite number.
6,111/90,012 =
(6,111 ÷ 3) / (90,012 ÷ 3) =
2,037/30,004
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.
6,111/90,012 =
(32 × 7 × 97)/(22 × 3 × 13 × 577) =
((32 × 7 × 97) ÷ 3) / ((22 × 3 × 13 × 577) ÷ 3) =
(3 × 7 × 97)/(22 × 13 × 577) =
2,037/30,004
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,037/30,004 =
2,037 ÷ 30,004 =
0.067890947874 ≈
0.07