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:
90,912 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 947 = 25 × 3 × 947
90,912 is a composite number.
750,014 = 2 × 31 × 12,097
750,014 is a composite number.
90,912/750,014 =
(90,912 ÷ 2) / (750,014 ÷ 2) =
45,456/375,007
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.
90,912/750,014 =
(25 × 3 × 947)/(2 × 31 × 12,097) =
((25 × 3 × 947) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 31 × 12,097) ÷ 2) =
(24 × 3 × 947)/(31 × 12,097) =
45,456/375,007
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
45,456/375,007 =
45,456 ÷ 375,007 =
0.121213737344 ≈
0.12