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:
9,308 = 2 × 2 × 13 × 179 = 22 × 13 × 179
9,308 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
39,996 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 11 × 101 = 22 × 32 × 11 × 101
39,996 is a composite number.
9,308/39,996 =
(9,308 ÷ 4) / (39,996 ÷ 4) =
2,327/9,999
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.
9,308/39,996 =
(22 × 13 × 179)/(22 × 32 × 11 × 101) =
((22 × 13 × 179) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 32 × 11 × 101) ÷ 22) =
(13 × 179)/(32 × 11 × 101) =
2,327/9,999
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,327/9,999 =
2,327 ÷ 9,999 =
0.232723272327 ≈
0.23