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:
72,262,772 = 2 × 2 × 18,065,693 = 22 × 18,065,693
72,262,772 is a composite number.
300,000,010 = 2 × 5 × 30,000,001
300,000,010 is a composite number.
72,262,772/300,000,010 =
(72,262,772 ÷ 2) / (300,000,010 ÷ 2) =
36,131,386/150,000,005
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.
72,262,772/300,000,010 =
(22 × 18,065,693)/(2 × 5 × 30,000,001) =
((22 × 18,065,693) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 5 × 30,000,001) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 18,065,693)/(5 × 30,000,001) =
36,131,386/150,000,005
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
36,131,386/150,000,005 =
36,131,386 ÷ 150,000,005 =
0.240875898637 ≈
0.24