#reducing fractions

Reducing Fractions to Simplest Form

This post is about reducing fractions to simplest form (or lowest terms), something pretty much every math teacher wants, but many students hate. After going through all that work to get the answer, you think you’re done, but nope! You have to put it in lowest terms. Ack! Well, hopefully this post will help you to understand it a bit better.

There are two “flavors” of reducing fractions to…

Simplifying Fractions

Reducing Fractions into lowest terms

To learn this skill the knowledge of equivalent fractions and greatest common factor (gcf) of two numbers is necessary. If kids don’t know the equivalent fractions, then they should learn them before learning reducing fractions into lowest terms or simplifying fractions.

Once kids understand the equivalent fractions, then they should learn reducing the fractions into lowest terms. Reducing the fractions into lowest terms is the converting the given fraction into its equivalent proper fraction (proper fraction is the fraction having numerator smaller than the denominator and they both have “1” as their gcf only).

For example, let’s reduce the fraction 4/12 into lowest terms. To simplify the given fraction, we have to find the gcf of 4 and 12, which is 4. In other words, 4 is the greatest number which can divide both 4 and 12.

Hence divide the numerator and denominator of the given fraction by 4 as shown below:

(4/4)/(12/4)= 1/3

Hence, the reduced form of the fraction is 1/3

Notice that, the numerator and denominator both got divided by “4” and that’s why both of the fractions are equivalent fractions.

Finally, it can be said that for reducing fractions into lowest terms the knowledge of gcf and equivalent fractions is the key. Use of reducing fractions worksheets can make you perfect on this key skill of reducing fractions.