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:
89,090 = 2 × 5 × 59 × 151
89,090 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
499,995 = 3 × 3 × 5 × 41 × 271 = 32 × 5 × 41 × 271
499,995 is a composite number.
89,090/499,995 =
(89,090 ÷ 5) / (499,995 ÷ 5) =
17,818/99,999
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.
89,090/499,995 =
(2 × 5 × 59 × 151)/(32 × 5 × 41 × 271) =
((2 × 5 × 59 × 151) ÷ 5) / ((32 × 5 × 41 × 271) ÷ 5) =
(2 × 59 × 151)/(32 × 41 × 271) =
17,818/99,999
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
17,818/99,999 =
17,818 ÷ 99,999 =
0.178181781818 ≈
0.18