18/16 in simplest form
Understand the Problem
The question is asking to simplify the fraction 18/16 to its lowest terms. This involves finding the greatest common divisor (GCD) of the numerator and denominator and dividing both by that number.
Answer
The simplified fraction of \( \frac{18}{16} \) is \( \frac{9}{8} \).
Answer for screen readers
The simplified fraction of ( \frac{18}{16} ) is ( \frac{9}{8} ).
Steps to Solve
- Find the GCD of 18 and 16
To simplify the fraction, we first need to find the greatest common divisor (GCD) of the numerator (18) and the denominator (16).
The factors of 18 are: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18
The factors of 16 are: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16
The greatest common factor they share is 2.
- Divide the numerator and denominator by the GCD
Now we divide both the numerator and the denominator by the GCD (2) we found in the previous step.
$$ \frac{18}{16} = \frac{18 \div 2}{16 \div 2} $$
- Write the simplified fraction
After performing the division, we obtain the simplified fraction:
$$ \frac{18 \div 2}{16 \div 2} = \frac{9}{8} $$
The simplified fraction of ( \frac{18}{16} ) is ( \frac{9}{8} ).
More Information
Simplifying fractions is a fundamental skill in mathematics. The process of determining the GCD is also useful in more complex problems involving fractions or ratios.
Tips
- A common mistake is to forget to divide both the numerator and the denominator by the GCD, leading to incorrect simplification.
- Another mistake can arise from incorrectly finding the GCD. To avoid this, carefully list the factors and identify the largest one shared by both numbers.
