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:
8,181,825 = 3 × 5 × 5 × 43 × 43 × 59 = 3 × 52 × 432 × 59
8,181,825 is a composite number.
29,999,990 = 2 × 5 × 2,999,999
29,999,990 is a composite number.
8,181,825/29,999,990 =
(8,181,825 ÷ 5) / (29,999,990 ÷ 5) =
1,636,365/5,999,998
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.
8,181,825/29,999,990 =
(3 × 52 × 432 × 59)/(2 × 5 × 2,999,999) =
((3 × 52 × 432 × 59) ÷ 5) / ((2 × 5 × 2,999,999) ÷ 5) =
(3 × 5 × 432 × 59)/(2 × 2,999,999) =
1,636,365/5,999,998
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,636,365/5,999,998 =
1,636,365 ÷ 5,999,998 =
0.272727590909 ≈
0.27