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:
66,666,699 = 3 × 3 × 3 × 11 × 224,467 = 33 × 11 × 224,467
66,666,699 is a composite number.
400,000,026 = 2 × 3 × 107 × 419 × 1,487
400,000,026 is a composite number.
66,666,699/400,000,026 =
(66,666,699 ÷ 3) / (400,000,026 ÷ 3) =
22,222,233/133,333,342
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.
66,666,699/400,000,026 =
(33 × 11 × 224,467)/(2 × 3 × 107 × 419 × 1,487) =
((33 × 11 × 224,467) ÷ 3) / ((2 × 3 × 107 × 419 × 1,487) ÷ 3) =
(32 × 11 × 224,467)/(2 × 107 × 419 × 1,487) =
22,222,233/133,333,342
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
22,222,233/133,333,342 =
22,222,233 ÷ 133,333,342 =
0.166666736667 ≈
0.17