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:
8,333,345 = 5 × 179 × 9,311
8,333,345 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
50,000,000,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 210 × 511
50,000,000,000 is a composite number.
8,333,345/50,000,000,000 =
(8,333,345 ÷ 5) / (50,000,000,000 ÷ 5) =
1,666,669/10,000,000,000
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.
8,333,345/50,000,000,000 =
(5 × 179 × 9,311)/(210 × 511) =
((5 × 179 × 9,311) ÷ 5) / ((210 × 511) ÷ 5) =
(179 × 9,311)/(210 × 510) =
1,666,669/10,000,000,000
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,666,669/10,000,000,000 =
1,666,669 ÷ 10,000,000,000 =
0.0001666669 ≈
0