Question

Question 7(a):

Reduce the following fractions to simplest form:

$\frac{48}{60}$

Answer 1

A fraction is said to be in the simplest (or lowest) form if its numerator and denominator have no common factor except 1.

To reduce a fraction to its simplest form we find the HCF of the numerator and the denominator, and then divide both of them by the HCF.

We can also do the prime factorisation of both the numerator and the denominator and cancel out all the common prime factors.

$\frac{48}{60}=\frac{\text{/}2\times \text{/}2\times 2\times 2\times \text{/}3}{\text{/}2\times \text{/}2\times \text{/}3\times 5}=\frac{4}{5}$

The simplest from of $\frac{48}{60}$ = $\frac{4}{5}$.