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.
500,000,098 = 2 × 13 × 157 × 122,489
500,000,098 is a composite number.
92/500,000,098 =
(92 ÷ 2) / (500,000,098 ÷ 2) =
46/250,000,049
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.
92/500,000,098 =
(22 × 23)/(2 × 13 × 157 × 122,489) =
((22 × 23) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 13 × 157 × 122,489) ÷ 2) =
(2 × 23)/(13 × 157 × 122,489) =
46/250,000,049
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
46/250,000,049 =
46 ÷ 250,000,049 =
0.000000184 ≈
0