How to Reduce Fractions?

Reducing a fraction means that you divide the numerator and the denominator by the highest number that can divide both numbers exactly.

To reduce a fraction, follow the given steps :

• Find the highest number (except 1) by which both the numerator and the denominator can be exactly divided .
• Divide both the numerator and the denominator by that number.
• See if you can reduce it again.

Example 1

To reduce this fraction, we need to think of a number by which we can divide 8 and 10 exactly.

That number is 2.

Now we'll divide both the numerator (8) and the denominator (10) by 2

We now need to think if there's another number by which both the 4 and the 5 can be divided. There isn't, so we are done.

Example 2

Both the numerator (30) and the denominator (45) of this fraction can be divided by 15, so let's do that:

You may notice that both 30 and 45 can also be divided by 3 and 5.

If you choose to start by dividing them both by 3, you'll just have to do an extra step and divide them both by 5 also. You will get the same answer:

Step 1:

Step 2: