Simplifying

About this exercise

Reducing a fraction to its simplest form.

Example problems

A few of the problems this exercise asks. The printable worksheet holds ten fresh ones.

Try it yourself first — open a section below only if you get stuck.

How to solve it

Divide the numerator and denominator by their greatest common divisor.

Worked example

12 over 18 shares a divisor of 6, so it simplifies to two thirds.

Common mistake

Stopping too early. Reducing 12 over 18 to 6 over 9 is not finished, since both still divide by 3.