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:
620,451 = 3 × 3 × 13 × 5,303 = 32 × 13 × 5,303
620,451 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
11,250,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 24 × 32 × 57
11,250,000 is a composite number.
620,451/11,250,000 =
(620,451 ÷ 9) / (11,250,000 ÷ 9) =
68,939/1,250,000
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.
620,451/11,250,000 =
(32 × 13 × 5,303)/(24 × 32 × 57) =
((32 × 13 × 5,303) ÷ 32) / ((24 × 32 × 57) ÷ 32) =
(13 × 5,303)/(24 × 57) =
68,939/1,250,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
68,939/1,250,000 =
68,939 ÷ 1,250,000 =
0.0551512 ≈
0.06