Picture This! Reducing Fractions with a multiplication table

and want to reduce it to lowest terms, If you have 8 12 and want to reduce it to lowest terms,

you might know to divide top and bottom by 4, so you get 2 3

But what if you didn’t know how to do that? You can just take your fraction and …

Grab a multiplication table

Find the numerator AND denominator in one of the columns

And look left

reduces to 8 12 2 3

But what if you saw 8 and 12 here? Look left

You see 4 and 6 8 12 4 6 = So far, so good

Now find the 4 and 6 in the same column Look left

reduces to 4 6 2 3

Whatever you do to the bottom, you have to do to the top 2 2

2 2 8 12 4 6 2 3 = =