Arithmetic Grade Four

Lesson Seventy-one: Reducing Fractions

Sometimes we want to REDUCE fractions to their simplest form. Basically we want to change a fraction to an equivalent fractions which has smaller numbers in the numerator and denominator. Here's an example: 

  Let's say we want to reduce:

        33
       ----
        44
Reducing fractions requires a couple of steps:
  1. Find the Greatest Common Factor of the numerator and the demoninator.
  2. Divide both the numerator and the demoninator by the GCF.
Here's an example:

   Fraction:  33/44.
   Factors:
     33: {1, 3, 11, 33}.
     44: {1, 2, 4, 11, 22, 44}.
   GCF:  11.
   Divide the numerator and the denominator:
      33/11 = 3.
      44/11 = 4.
   Answer:  3/4.
Let's review finding GCF's first.

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