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:
8 = 2 × 2 × 2 = 23
8 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
133,333,332 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 11 × 73 × 101 × 137 = 22 × 3 × 11 × 73 × 101 × 137
133,333,332 is a composite number.
8/133,333,332 =
(8 ÷ 4) / (133,333,332 ÷ 4) =
2/33,333,333
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.
8/133,333,332 =
23/(22 × 3 × 11 × 73 × 101 × 137) =
(23 ÷ 22) / ((22 × 3 × 11 × 73 × 101 × 137) ÷ 22) =
2/(3 × 11 × 73 × 101 × 137) =
2/33,333,333
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2/33,333,333 =
2 ÷ 33,333,333 =
0.00000006 ≈
0