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:
90 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 5 = 2 × 32 × 5
90 is a composite number.
500,000,097 = 3 × 139 × 881 × 1,361
500,000,097 is a composite number.
90/500,000,097 =
(90 ÷ 3) / (500,000,097 ÷ 3) =
30/166,666,699
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.
90/500,000,097 =
(2 × 32 × 5)/(3 × 139 × 881 × 1,361) =
((2 × 32 × 5) ÷ 3) / ((3 × 139 × 881 × 1,361) ÷ 3) =
(2 × 3 × 5)/(139 × 881 × 1,361) =
30/166,666,699
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
30/166,666,699 =
30 ÷ 166,666,699 =
0.00000018 ≈
0