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:
7,406,686 = 2 × 7 × 529,049
7,406,686 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
44,440,025 = 5 × 5 × 7 × 23 × 61 × 181 = 52 × 7 × 23 × 61 × 181
44,440,025 is a composite number.
7,406,686/44,440,025 =
(7,406,686 ÷ 7) / (44,440,025 ÷ 7) =
1,058,098/6,348,575
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.
7,406,686/44,440,025 =
(2 × 7 × 529,049)/(52 × 7 × 23 × 61 × 181) =
((2 × 7 × 529,049) ÷ 7) / ((52 × 7 × 23 × 61 × 181) ÷ 7) =
(2 × 529,049)/(52 × 23 × 61 × 181) =
1,058,098/6,348,575
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,058,098/6,348,575 =
1,058,098 ÷ 6,348,575 =
0.166667007951 ≈
0.17