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:
70,850 = 2 × 5 × 5 × 13 × 109 = 2 × 52 × 13 × 109
70,850 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
150,008 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 17 × 1,103 = 23 × 17 × 1,103
150,008 is a composite number.
70,850/150,008 =
(70,850 ÷ 2) / (150,008 ÷ 2) =
35,425/75,004
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.
70,850/150,008 =
(2 × 52 × 13 × 109)/(23 × 17 × 1,103) =
((2 × 52 × 13 × 109) ÷ 2) / ((23 × 17 × 1,103) ÷ 2) =
(52 × 13 × 109)/(22 × 17 × 1,103) =
35,425/75,004
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
35,425/75,004 =
35,425 ÷ 75,004 =
0.472308143566 ≈
0.47