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:
66,666,688 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 11 × 281 × 337 = 26 × 11 × 281 × 337
66,666,688 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
400,000,016 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 13 × 13 × 29 × 5,101 = 24 × 132 × 29 × 5,101
400,000,016 is a composite number.
66,666,688/400,000,016 =
(66,666,688 ÷ 16) / (400,000,016 ÷ 16) =
4,166,668/25,000,001
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.
66,666,688/400,000,016 =
(26 × 11 × 281 × 337)/(24 × 132 × 29 × 5,101) =
((26 × 11 × 281 × 337) ÷ 24) / ((24 × 132 × 29 × 5,101) ÷ 24) =
(22 × 11 × 281 × 337)/(132 × 29 × 5,101) =
4,166,668/25,000,001
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
4,166,668/25,000,001 =
4,166,668 ÷ 25,000,001 =
0.166666713333 ≈
0.17