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:
92 = 2 × 2 × 23 = 22 × 23
92 is a composite number.
12,345,678,962 = 2 × 6,172,839,481
12,345,678,962 is a composite number.
92/12,345,678,962 =
(92 ÷ 2) / (12,345,678,962 ÷ 2) =
46/6,172,839,481
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.
92/12,345,678,962 =
(22 × 23)/(2 × 6,172,839,481) =
((22 × 23) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 6,172,839,481) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 23)/6,172,839,481 =
46/6,172,839,481
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
46/6,172,839,481 =
46 ÷ 6,172,839,481 =
0.000000007452 ≈
0