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:
6,164 = 2 × 2 × 23 × 67 = 22 × 23 × 67
6,164 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
133,332 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 41 × 271 = 22 × 3 × 41 × 271
133,332 is a composite number.
6,164/133,332 =
(6,164 ÷ 4) / (133,332 ÷ 4) =
1,541/33,333
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.
6,164/133,332 =
(22 × 23 × 67)/(22 × 3 × 41 × 271) =
((22 × 23 × 67) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 3 × 41 × 271) ÷ 22) =
(23 × 67)/(3 × 41 × 271) =
1,541/33,333
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,541/33,333 =
1,541 ÷ 33,333 =
0.046230462305 ≈
0.05