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:
7,758,692 = 2 × 2 × 1,939,673 = 22 × 1,939,673
7,758,692 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
14,062,600 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 70,313 = 23 × 52 × 70,313
14,062,600 is a composite number.
7,758,692/14,062,600 =
(7,758,692 ÷ 4) / (14,062,600 ÷ 4) =
1,939,673/3,515,650
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.
7,758,692/14,062,600 =
(22 × 1,939,673)/(23 × 52 × 70,313) =
((22 × 1,939,673) ÷ 22) / ((23 × 52 × 70,313) ÷ 22) =
1,939,673/(2 × 52 × 70,313) =
1,939,673/3,515,650
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,939,673/3,515,650 =
1,939,673 ÷ 3,515,650 =
0.551725285509 ≈
0.55