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:
88 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 11 = 23 × 11
88 is a composite number.
12,345,678,942 = 2 × 3 × 71 × 3,343 × 8,669
12,345,678,942 is a composite number.
88/12,345,678,942 =
(88 ÷ 2) / (12,345,678,942 ÷ 2) =
44/6,172,839,471
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.
88/12,345,678,942 =
(23 × 11)/(2 × 3 × 71 × 3,343 × 8,669) =
((23 × 11) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 3 × 71 × 3,343 × 8,669) ÷ 2) =
(22 × 11)/(3 × 71 × 3,343 × 8,669) =
44/6,172,839,471
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
44/6,172,839,471 =
44 ÷ 6,172,839,471 =
0.000000007128 ≈
0