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:
8,027,679 = 3 × 11 × 243,263
8,027,679 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
18,731,250 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 37 = 2 × 34 × 55 × 37
18,731,250 is a composite number.
8,027,679/18,731,250 =
(8,027,679 ÷ 3) / (18,731,250 ÷ 3) =
2,675,893/6,243,750
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.
8,027,679/18,731,250 =
(3 × 11 × 243,263)/(2 × 34 × 55 × 37) =
((3 × 11 × 243,263) ÷ 3) / ((2 × 34 × 55 × 37) ÷ 3) =
(11 × 243,263)/(2 × 33 × 55 × 37) =
2,675,893/6,243,750
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,675,893/6,243,750 =
2,675,893 ÷ 6,243,750 =
0.428571451451 ≈
0.43