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:
8,320 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 13 = 27 × 5 × 13
8,320 is a composite number.
150,010 = 2 × 5 × 7 × 2,143
150,010 is a composite number.
8,320/150,010 =
(8,320 ÷ 10) / (150,010 ÷ 10) =
832/15,001
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.
8,320/150,010 =
(27 × 5 × 13)/(2 × 5 × 7 × 2,143) =
((27 × 5 × 13) ÷ (2 × 5)) / ((2 × 5 × 7 × 2,143) ÷ (2 × 5)) =
(26 × 13)/(7 × 2,143) =
832/15,001
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
832/15,001 =
832 ÷ 15,001 =
0.055462969135 ≈
0.06