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:
8,181,816 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 340,909 = 23 × 3 × 340,909
8,181,816 is a composite number.
29,999,985 = 3 × 5 × 17 × 71 × 1,657
29,999,985 is a composite number.
8,181,816/29,999,985 =
(8,181,816 ÷ 3) / (29,999,985 ÷ 3) =
2,727,272/9,999,995
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.
8,181,816/29,999,985 =
(23 × 3 × 340,909)/(3 × 5 × 17 × 71 × 1,657) =
((23 × 3 × 340,909) ÷ 3) / ((3 × 5 × 17 × 71 × 1,657) ÷ 3) =
(23 × 340,909)/(5 × 17 × 71 × 1,657) =
2,727,272/9,999,995
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,727,272/9,999,995 =
2,727,272 ÷ 9,999,995 =
0.272727336364 ≈
0.27