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:
68,590 = 2 × 5 × 19 × 19 × 19 = 2 × 5 × 193
68,590 is a composite number.
16,666,665 = 3 × 5 × 239 × 4,649
16,666,665 is a composite number.
68,590/16,666,665 =
(68,590 ÷ 5) / (16,666,665 ÷ 5) =
13,718/3,333,333
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.
68,590/16,666,665 =
(2 × 5 × 193)/(3 × 5 × 239 × 4,649) =
((2 × 5 × 193) ÷ 5) / ((3 × 5 × 239 × 4,649) ÷ 5) =
(2 × 193)/(3 × 239 × 4,649) =
13,718/3,333,333
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
13,718/3,333,333 =
13,718 ÷ 3,333,333 =
0.004115400412 ≈
0