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:
7,112 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 7 × 127 = 23 × 7 × 127
7,112 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
13,332 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 11 × 101 = 22 × 3 × 11 × 101
13,332 is a composite number.
7,112/13,332 =
(7,112 ÷ 4) / (13,332 ÷ 4) =
1,778/3,333
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.
7,112/13,332 =
(23 × 7 × 127)/(22 × 3 × 11 × 101) =
((23 × 7 × 127) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 3 × 11 × 101) ÷ 22) =
(2 × 7 × 127)/(3 × 11 × 101) =
1,778/3,333
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,778/3,333 =
1,778 ÷ 3,333 =
0.533453345335 ≈
0.53