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:
92,584 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 71 × 163 = 23 × 71 × 163
92,584 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
333,300,000 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 11 × 101 = 25 × 3 × 55 × 11 × 101
333,300,000 is a composite number.
92,584/333,300,000 =
(92,584 ÷ 8) / (333,300,000 ÷ 8) =
11,573/41,662,500
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.
92,584/333,300,000 =
(23 × 71 × 163)/(25 × 3 × 55 × 11 × 101) =
((23 × 71 × 163) ÷ 23) / ((25 × 3 × 55 × 11 × 101) ÷ 23) =
(71 × 163)/(22 × 3 × 55 × 11 × 101) =
11,573/41,662,500
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
11,573/41,662,500 =
11,573 ÷ 41,662,500 =
0.000277779778 ≈
0