Question

Reduce the following fractions into their simplest form.

$\frac{72}{144}$

Answer 1

The numerator and denominator of the simplest form of the fraction do not have any common factor between them other than$1$.

In the simplest form of fraction Numerator and Denominator are whole numbers that are coprime to each other.

Let's express both the numerator and denominator of a fraction as a product of their primes and then simplify

$\frac{72}{144}=\frac{2\times 2\times 2\times 3\times 3}{2\times 2\times 2\times 2\times 3\times 3}=\frac{1}{2}$

Hence $\frac{1}{2}$, is the simplest form of $\frac{72}{144}$