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:
66,666,690 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 17 × 43,573 = 2 × 32 × 5 × 17 × 43,573
66,666,690 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
400,000,028 = 2 × 2 × 100,000,007 = 22 × 100,000,007
400,000,028 is a composite number.
66,666,690/400,000,028 =
(66,666,690 ÷ 2) / (400,000,028 ÷ 2) =
33,333,345/200,000,014
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.
66,666,690/400,000,028 =
(2 × 32 × 5 × 17 × 43,573)/(22 × 100,000,007) =
((2 × 32 × 5 × 17 × 43,573) ÷ 2) / ((22 × 100,000,007) ÷ 2) =
(32 × 5 × 17 × 43,573)/(2 × 100,000,007) =
33,333,345/200,000,014
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
33,333,345/200,000,014 =
33,333,345 ÷ 200,000,014 =
0.166666713333 ≈
0.17