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:
63,259 = 7 × 7 × 1,291 = 72 × 1,291
63,259 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
700,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 7 = 25 × 55 × 7
700,000 is a composite number.
63,259/700,000 =
(63,259 ÷ 7) / (700,000 ÷ 7) =
9,037/100,000
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.
63,259/700,000 =
(72 × 1,291)/(25 × 55 × 7) =
((72 × 1,291) ÷ 7) / ((25 × 55 × 7) ÷ 7) =
(7 × 1,291)/(25 × 55) =
9,037/100,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
9,037/100,000 =
9,037 ÷ 100,000 =
0.09037 ≈
0.09