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:
7,612 = 2 × 2 × 11 × 173 = 22 × 11 × 173
7,612 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
13,320 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 37 = 23 × 32 × 5 × 37
13,320 is a composite number.
7,612/13,320 =
(7,612 ÷ 4) / (13,320 ÷ 4) =
1,903/3,330
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.
7,612/13,320 =
(22 × 11 × 173)/(23 × 32 × 5 × 37) =
((22 × 11 × 173) ÷ 22) / ((23 × 32 × 5 × 37) ÷ 22) =
(11 × 173)/(2 × 32 × 5 × 37) =
1,903/3,330
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,903/3,330 =
1,903 ÷ 3,330 =
0.571471471471 ≈
0.57