# How do you simplify the fraction 18/24?

Mar 3, 2018

Simplest form -> $\frac{3}{4}$

#### Explanation:

When simplifying a fraction you always would like to find a common number that goes into both the denominator and numerator, so both values can be simplified by that common number. This number has to be the highest value that can fit into both numbers.

As $18$ is the lowest number, that common number must be ≤18. By trial and improvement, we can conclude that $6$ is the highest common multiple that can fit into both numbers. Therefore we divide both $18$ and $24$ by $6$ to simplify the fraction.

$\frac{18}{24} \to \frac{3}{4}$

As...

$\frac{18}{6} = 3$

$\frac{24}{6} = 4$

$\therefore$ $\frac{18}{24} \to \frac{3}{4}$

Mar 3, 2018

$\frac{3}{4}$

#### Explanation:

I will show two methods:

Method 1:

We can rewrite $18$ as $2 \cdot 3 \cdot 3$ and $24$ as $2 \cdot 3 \cdot 4$. This may seem strange, but it will prove to be very useful. Our new fraction is:

$\frac{2 \cdot 3 \cdot 3}{2 \cdot 3 \cdot 4}$

$\frac{\cancel{2 \cdot 3} \cdot 3}{\cancel{2 \cdot 3} \cdot 4}$

Here, the $2$s and $3$s on the top and bottom will cancel, and we're just left with $\frac{3}{4}$.

Method 2:

Alternatively, this is the more traditional method. We need to divide the numerator and denominator by a common factor. We can divide by $6$ to get:

$\frac{3}{4}$

Mar 3, 2018

$\frac{18}{24} = \frac{3}{4}$
The first thing to recognize is that $18 = 2 \cdot 9 = 2 \cdot 3 \cdot 3$ and $24 = 2 \cdot 12 = 2 \cdot 2 \cdot 6 = 2 \cdot 2 \cdot 2 \cdot 3$
So, $\frac{18}{24} = \frac{2 \cdot 3 \cdot 3}{2 \cdot 2 \cdot 2 \cdot 3}$
$\frac{\cancel{2} \cdot \cancel{3} \cdot 3}{2 \cdot 2 \cdot \cancel{2} \cdot \cancel{3}} = \frac{3}{2 \cdot 2} = \frac{3}{4}$