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:
73,322 = 2 × 61 × 601
73,322 is a composite number.
1,979,990 = 2 × 5 × 17 × 19 × 613
1,979,990 is a composite number.
73,322/1,979,990 =
(73,322 ÷ 2) / (1,979,990 ÷ 2) =
36,661/989,995
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.
73,322/1,979,990 =
(2 × 61 × 601)/(2 × 5 × 17 × 19 × 613) =
((2 × 61 × 601) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 5 × 17 × 19 × 613) ÷ 2) =
(61 × 601)/(5 × 17 × 19 × 613) =
36,661/989,995
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
36,661/989,995 =
36,661 ÷ 989,995 =
0.037031500159 ≈
0.04