Simplifying Fractions Calculator

Enter the numerator and denominator of the fraction to be simplified.

Answer:

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Step-by-step solution:

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With this calculator, you can get a simplified version of the entered fraction. The calculator will return a simple fraction or a mixed number as appropriate.

How to use the calculator to simplify fractions?

Step 1: Enter the numerator and denominator of the fraction in the corresponding boxes. You must enter only whole numbers.

Step 2: Click “Simplify” to get a simplified version of the entered fraction.

Step 3: The answer will be displayed on the right-hand side and the step-by-step solution will be displayed on the bottom. If possible, the calculator will convert the fraction to a mixed number.

How to simplify fractions?

To simplify fractions, we need to find the greatest common factor of the number in the numerator and the number in the denominator. The greatest common factor is the largest number that exactly divides both numbers.

For example, if we have the fraction \( \frac{10}{5}\), we can deduce that the greatest common factor between the numbers is 5, so we divide both the numerator and denominator by 5 to get \( \frac{2}{1}=2\).

How to convert an improper fraction to a mixed number?

To convert an improper fraction to a mixed number, we have to divide the numerator by the denominator and consider the remainder. The quotient becomes the whole number, the remainder is the numerator, and we keep the same denominator.

For example, suppose we have the fraction \(\frac{14}{4}\). In this case, the greatest common factor is 2, so dividing both the numerator and denominator by 2 gives us \(\frac{7}{2}\).

Here we have a fraction where the numerator is larger than the denominator, so we can convert it to a mixed number if needed. For that, we divide the numerator by the denominator and consider the remainder. 7 divided by 2 equals 3 with the remainder equal to 1.

Therefore, we can write the fraction \(\frac{7}{2}\) as \(3\frac{1}{2}\).

Why simplify fractions?

Fraction simplification allows us to find the simplest version of a certain fraction. This is useful when we have to perform operations with fractions. For example, it is easier to multiply by \( \frac{1}{2}\) than it is to multiply by \( \frac{6}{12}\).

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