Simplify Fractions Calculator

A fraction is in simplest form, or lowest terms, when the numerator and the denominator have no common factor other than 1. Simplifying changes how the fraction is written, never its value: 18/24 and 3/4 are the same number.

The one-step method. Find the greatest common factor (GCF) of the numerator and the denominator and divide both by it. For 18/24 the GCF is 6, so 18 / 6 = 3 and 24 / 6 = 4, and the simplest form is 3/4. Done this way there is nothing left to cancel afterward.

Finding the GCF. For small numbers you can list factors: 18 has 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, and 24 has 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, so the largest they share is 6. For large numbers, Euclid's algorithm is much faster. Divide the larger by the smaller and keep the remainder: 24 = 1 x 18 + 6. Then divide the old divisor by the remainder: 18 = 3 x 6, remainder 0. The last divisor, 6, is the GCF. This calculator shows those steps for whatever you enter.

The step-by-step method. Dividing by any common factor and repeating also works: 18/24 to 9/12 (divide by 2), then 3/4 (divide by 3). It takes more steps and the risk is stopping early, at 9/12, which is equivalent but not in lowest terms.

Improper fractions and mixed numbers. 14/8 simplifies to 7/4, which is 1 3/4 as a mixed number. Enter a mixed number with its whole part and the calculator simplifies the improper fraction it stands for.

Other names. Reducing a fraction and putting it in simplest form are the same job, so a reducing fractions calculator or a simplest form calculator gives the same answer as this one.