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:
7,758,708 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 359 × 1,801 = 22 × 3 × 359 × 1,801
7,758,708 is a composite number.
14,062,606 = 2 × 349 × 20,147
14,062,606 is a composite number.
7,758,708/14,062,606 =
(7,758,708 ÷ 2) / (14,062,606 ÷ 2) =
3,879,354/7,031,303
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.
7,758,708/14,062,606 =
(22 × 3 × 359 × 1,801)/(2 × 349 × 20,147) =
((22 × 3 × 359 × 1,801) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 349 × 20,147) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 3 × 359 × 1,801)/(349 × 20,147) =
3,879,354/7,031,303
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
3,879,354/7,031,303 =
3,879,354 ÷ 7,031,303 =
0.551726187877 ≈
0.55