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:
9,760 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × 61 = 25 × 5 × 61
9,760 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
12,008 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 19 × 79 = 23 × 19 × 79
12,008 is a composite number.
9,760/12,008 =
(9,760 ÷ 8) / (12,008 ÷ 8) =
1,220/1,501
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.
9,760/12,008 =
(25 × 5 × 61)/(23 × 19 × 79) =
((25 × 5 × 61) ÷ 23) / ((23 × 19 × 79) ÷ 23) =
(22 × 5 × 61)/(19 × 79) =
1,220/1,501
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
1,220/1,501 =
1,220 ÷ 1,501 =
0.812791472352 ≈
0.81