How to Find the Simplest Form of a Fraction
Now let’s learn about the simplest form of a fraction, we’ll do it using two problems. First we have to find the simplest form of 4/12, well what is a simplest form? Simplest form is a fraction that uses the smallest numbers that represent the values, let me teach you how to do this. So if this fraction has a simplest form, here’s what we do, we take the number 4 and we take the number 12 and find it's factors. What are factors of 4, 1, 2 and 4, what are factors of 12, well there’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12. Now what we do is figure out the common factors which kept the factors common. Which of the common factors is the largest one? It's 4, this is called the greatest among the common factors or GCF, greatest common factor.
What we do now is you take the original fraction, divide the numerator and denominator by the greatest common factor, what do I get? 4 divided by 4 is one, 12 divide 4 is 3, and this is the fraction in its simplest form. Lets try it again, Derrick says he used 24 out of the 28 tickets, Sally says she used 6/7, is Sally correct? Well let’s find the factors of 24 and 28, what are the factors of 24? I have 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24, what are the factors of 28? I’ve got 1, 2, 4, 7, 14, and 28 which are the common factors? I have 1, 2, 4, 1, 2, 4 and that’s it, what’s the greatest common factor? Its 4, so what do I do, you divide the numerator and the denominator by the greatest common factor, 24 over 4 is 6, 28 over 4 is 7, that’s what Sally said, so was Sally correct? Yes she is because all she did was represent what Derrick said in simplest form.
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