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:
71,502 = 2 × 3 × 17 × 701
71,502 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
450,060 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 13 × 577 = 22 × 3 × 5 × 13 × 577
450,060 is a composite number.
71,502/450,060 =
(71,502 ÷ 6) / (450,060 ÷ 6) =
11,917/75,010
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.
71,502/450,060 =
(2 × 3 × 17 × 701)/(22 × 3 × 5 × 13 × 577) =
((2 × 3 × 17 × 701) ÷ (2 × 3)) / ((22 × 3 × 5 × 13 × 577) ÷ (2 × 3)) =
(17 × 701)/(2 × 5 × 13 × 577) =
11,917/75,010
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
11,917/75,010 =
11,917 ÷ 75,010 =
0.15887215038 ≈
0.16