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For example, 1 / 4 , 5 / 6 , and −101 / 100 are all irreducible fractions. On the other hand, 2 / 4 is reducible since it is equal in value to 1 / 2 , and the numerator of 1 / 2 is less than the numerator of 2 / 4 . A fraction that is reducible can be reduced by dividing both the numerator ...
For example, a fraction is put in lowest terms by cancelling out the common factors of the numerator and the denominator. [2] As another example, if a×b=a×c, then the multiplicative term a can be canceled out if a≠0, resulting in the equivalent expression b=c; this is equivalent to dividing through by a.
If the numerator and the denominator do not share any factor greater than 1, the fraction is already reduced to its lowest terms, and it is said to be irreducible, reduced, or in simplest terms. For example, 3 9 {\displaystyle {\tfrac {3}{9}}} is not in lowest terms because both 3 and 9 can be exactly divided by 3.
The numerator and denominator are called the terms of the algebraic fraction. A complex fraction is a fraction whose numerator or denominator, or both, contains a fraction. A simple fraction contains no fraction either in its numerator or its denominator. A fraction is in lowest terms if the only factor common to the numerator and the ...
However, if the fraction 1/1 is replaced by the fraction 2/2, which is an equivalent fraction denoting the same rational number 1, the mediant of the fractions 2/2 and 1/2 is 3/4. For a stronger connection to rational numbers the fractions may be required to be reduced to lowest terms , thereby selecting unique representatives from the ...
However, since F[X] is a unique factorization domain, there is a unique representation for any rational expression P/Q with P and Q polynomials of lowest degree and Q chosen to be monic. This is similar to how a fraction of integers can always be written uniquely in lowest terms by canceling out common factors.
Conversely the period of the repeating decimal of a fraction c / d will be (at most) the smallest number n such that 10 n − 1 is divisible by d. For example, the fraction 2 / 7 has d = 7, and the smallest k that makes 10 k − 1 divisible by 7 is k = 6, because 999999 = 7 × 142857. The period of the fraction 2 / 7 is ...
The greatest common divisor (GCD) of integers a and b, at least one of which is nonzero, is the greatest positive integer d such that d is a divisor of both a and b; that is, there are integers e and f such that a = de and b = df, and d is the largest such integer.