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:
8,027,668 = 2 × 2 × 11 × 37 × 4,931 = 22 × 11 × 37 × 4,931
8,027,668 is a composite number.
18,731,242 = 2 × 9,365,621
18,731,242 is a composite number.
8,027,668/18,731,242 =
(8,027,668 ÷ 2) / (18,731,242 ÷ 2) =
4,013,834/9,365,621
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.
8,027,668/18,731,242 =
(22 × 11 × 37 × 4,931)/(2 × 9,365,621) =
((22 × 11 × 37 × 4,931) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 9,365,621) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 11 × 37 × 4,931)/9,365,621 =
4,013,834/9,365,621
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
4,013,834/9,365,621 =
4,013,834 ÷ 9,365,621 =
0.428571047238 ≈
0.43