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:
66,666,708 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 29 × 63,857 = 22 × 32 × 29 × 63,857
66,666,708 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
400,000,041 = 3 × 3 × 7 × 269 × 23,603 = 32 × 7 × 269 × 23,603
400,000,041 is a composite number.
66,666,708/400,000,041 =
(66,666,708 ÷ 9) / (400,000,041 ÷ 9) =
7,407,412/44,444,449
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.
66,666,708/400,000,041 =
(22 × 32 × 29 × 63,857)/(32 × 7 × 269 × 23,603) =
((22 × 32 × 29 × 63,857) ÷ 32) / ((32 × 7 × 269 × 23,603) ÷ 32) =
(22 × 29 × 63,857)/(7 × 269 × 23,603) =
7,407,412/44,444,449
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
7,407,412/44,444,449 =
7,407,412 ÷ 44,444,449 =
0.166666752917 ≈
0.17