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:
760 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 19 = 23 × 5 × 19
760 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
50,052 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 43 × 97 = 22 × 3 × 43 × 97
50,052 is a composite number.
760/50,052 =
(760 ÷ 4) / (50,052 ÷ 4) =
190/12,513
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.
760/50,052 =
(23 × 5 × 19)/(22 × 3 × 43 × 97) =
((23 × 5 × 19) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 3 × 43 × 97) ÷ 22) =
(2 × 5 × 19)/(3 × 43 × 97) =
190/12,513
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
190/12,513 =
190 ÷ 12,513 =
0.015184208423 ≈
0.02