Question

How do you simplify ratios?

sample problem: Simplify  70:56

Answer 1

In this method, we will divide both sides of the ratio by each factor we find in turn.

Given  70:56 , first note that both sides are even (since they end with even digits), so divide both sides by  2 to get:

35:28

 Trying each prime number in turn, the next number which both sides are divisible by is  7 , so divide both sides by  7 to get:

5:4

 5 and  4 have no common factor, so we can stop.

Method 1: Divide both sides by each common factor you find in turn.

Method 2: Find the greatest common factor of the two numbers and divide both sides by it.