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:
9,368 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 1,171 = 23 × 1,171
9,368 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
59,988 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 4,999 = 22 × 3 × 4,999
59,988 is a composite number.
9,368/59,988 =
(9,368 ÷ 4) / (59,988 ÷ 4) =
2,342/14,997
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.
9,368/59,988 =
(23 × 1,171)/(22 × 3 × 4,999) =
((23 × 1,171) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 3 × 4,999) ÷ 22) =
(2 × 1,171)/(3 × 4,999) =
2,342/14,997
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,342/14,997 =
2,342 ÷ 14,997 =
0.156164566247 ≈
0.16