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:
88,888,895 = 5 × 61 × 291,439
88,888,895 is a composite number.
166,666,665 = 3 × 5 × 11 × 73 × 101 × 137
166,666,665 is a composite number.
88,888,895/166,666,665 =
(88,888,895 ÷ 5) / (166,666,665 ÷ 5) =
17,777,779/33,333,333
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.
88,888,895/166,666,665 =
(5 × 61 × 291,439)/(3 × 5 × 11 × 73 × 101 × 137) =
((5 × 61 × 291,439) ÷ 5) / ((3 × 5 × 11 × 73 × 101 × 137) ÷ 5) =
(61 × 291,439)/(3 × 11 × 73 × 101 × 137) =
17,777,779/33,333,333
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
17,777,779/33,333,333 =
17,777,779 ÷ 33,333,333 =
0.533333375333 ≈
0.53