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:
7,406,700 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 7 × 3,527 = 22 × 3 × 52 × 7 × 3,527
7,406,700 is a composite number.
44,440,039 = 7 × 59 × 107,603
44,440,039 is a composite number.
7,406,700/44,440,039 =
(7,406,700 ÷ 7) / (44,440,039 ÷ 7) =
1,058,100/6,348,577
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.
7,406,700/44,440,039 =
(22 × 3 × 52 × 7 × 3,527)/(7 × 59 × 107,603) =
((22 × 3 × 52 × 7 × 3,527) ÷ 7) / ((7 × 59 × 107,603) ÷ 7) =
(22 × 3 × 52 × 3,527)/(59 × 107,603) =
1,058,100/6,348,577
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,058,100/6,348,577 =
1,058,100 ÷ 6,348,577 =
0.166667270477 ≈
0.17