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:
81,818,187 = 3 × 11 × 509 × 4,871
81,818,187 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
150,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 27 × 3 × 58
150,000,000 is a composite number.
81,818,187/150,000,000 =
(81,818,187 ÷ 3) / (150,000,000 ÷ 3) =
27,272,729/50,000,000
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.
81,818,187/150,000,000 =
(3 × 11 × 509 × 4,871)/(27 × 3 × 58) =
((3 × 11 × 509 × 4,871) ÷ 3) / ((27 × 3 × 58) ÷ 3) =
(11 × 509 × 4,871)/(27 × 58) =
27,272,729/50,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
27,272,729/50,000,000 =
27,272,729 ÷ 50,000,000 =
0.54545458 ≈
0.55