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:
9,150 = 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 61 = 2 × 3 × 52 × 61
9,150 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
12,604 = 2 × 2 × 23 × 137 = 22 × 23 × 137
12,604 is a composite number.
9,150/12,604 =
(9,150 ÷ 2) / (12,604 ÷ 2) =
4,575/6,302
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.
9,150/12,604 =
(2 × 3 × 52 × 61)/(22 × 23 × 137) =
((2 × 3 × 52 × 61) ÷ 2) / ((22 × 23 × 137) ÷ 2) =
(3 × 52 × 61)/(2 × 23 × 137) =
4,575/6,302
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
4,575/6,302 =
4,575 ÷ 6,302 =
0.725960012694 ≈
0.73