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:
8,181,828 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 17 × 29 × 461 = 22 × 32 × 17 × 29 × 461
8,181,828 is a composite number.
30,000,002 = 2 × 17 × 31 × 28,463
30,000,002 is a composite number.
8,181,828/30,000,002 =
(8,181,828 ÷ 34) / (30,000,002 ÷ 34) =
240,642/882,353
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.
8,181,828/30,000,002 =
(22 × 32 × 17 × 29 × 461)/(2 × 17 × 31 × 28,463) =
((22 × 32 × 17 × 29 × 461) ÷ (2 × 17)) / ((2 × 17 × 31 × 28,463) ÷ (2 × 17)) =
(2 × 32 × 29 × 461)/(31 × 28,463) =
240,642/882,353
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
240,642/882,353 =
240,642 ÷ 882,353 =
0.272727581818 ≈
0.27