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:
6,666,693 = 3 × 11 × 202,021
6,666,693 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
40,000,020 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 666,667 = 22 × 3 × 5 × 666,667
40,000,020 is a composite number.
6,666,693/40,000,020 =
(6,666,693 ÷ 3) / (40,000,020 ÷ 3) =
2,222,231/13,333,340
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.
6,666,693/40,000,020 =
(3 × 11 × 202,021)/(22 × 3 × 5 × 666,667) =
((3 × 11 × 202,021) ÷ 3) / ((22 × 3 × 5 × 666,667) ÷ 3) =
(11 × 202,021)/(22 × 5 × 666,667) =
2,222,231/13,333,340
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,222,231/13,333,340 =
2,222,231 ÷ 13,333,340 =
0.166667241666 ≈
0.17