Use the Greatest Common Factor (GCF) to simplify the fraction. 32/160

1 answer

To simplify the fraction \( \frac{32}{160} \) using the Greatest Common Factor (GCF), we first need to find the GCF of the numerator (32) and the denominator (160).

  1. Find the GCF of 32 and 160:

    • The prime factorization of 32 is \( 2^5 \) (since \( 32 = 2 \times 2 \times 2 \times 2 \times 2 \)).
    • The prime factorization of 160 is \( 2^5 \times 5 \) (since \( 160 = 2 \times 2 \times 2 \times 2 \times 2 \times 5 \)).
    • The GCF is determined by taking the lowest power of all common prime factors. Here, the common prime factor is \( 2 \) and the minimum exponent is \( 5 \).
    • Therefore, \( \text{GCF}(32, 160) = 2^5 = 32 \).
  2. Divide both the numerator and the denominator by the GCF:

    • \( \frac{32 \div 32}{160 \div 32} = \frac{1}{5} \).

Thus, the simplified form of \( \frac{32}{160} \) is \( \frac{1}{5} \).