Let's try a new kind of problem. We have to find the simplified fraction that equals 
. The simplified fraction is a fraction with lesser (smaller) numbers on top and in the denominator. We'll use the greatest common factor to find the simplified fraction. The greatest common factor of 
is 2.
Start with the denominator. What do we multiply 2 by to get 10? Since 2 x 5 = 10, 5 is the denominator of our simplified fraction. What do we multiply 2 by to get 8? Because 2 x 4 = 8, 4 is the top number (numerator) of our simplified fraction. The simplified fraction is 
.
The fraction of one will help us simplify reducible fractions. The top and bottom numbers of the fraction of one are equal to the reducible fraction's greatest common factor. Try simplifying 
. First, find the greatest common factor. We'll use that to make our fraction of one. The greatest common factor of 
is 6. We now know the fraction of one is 
. Let's set up our equation below.
Start with the denominator. We multiply 6 by 3 to get 18. So 3 will be the denominator of our simplified fraction. For the top numbers, we multiply 6 by 2 to get 12. Our simplified fraction is 
.
