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:
7,798 = 2 × 7 × 557
7,798 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
39,996 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 11 × 101 = 22 × 32 × 11 × 101
39,996 is a composite number.
7,798/39,996 =
(7,798 ÷ 2) / (39,996 ÷ 2) =
3,899/19,998
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.
7,798/39,996 =
(2 × 7 × 557)/(22 × 32 × 11 × 101) =
((2 × 7 × 557) ÷ 2) / ((22 × 32 × 11 × 101) ÷ 2) =
(7 × 557)/(2 × 32 × 11 × 101) =
3,899/19,998
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
3,899/19,998 =
3,899 ÷ 19,998 =
0.19496949695 ≈
0.19