Identify GCD: Identify the greatest common divisor (GCD) of the numerator and the denominator.The GCD of 40 and 42 is 2, because 2 is the largest number that divides both 40 and 42 without leaving a remainder.
Divide by GCD: Divide both the numerator and the denominator by the GCD to simplify the fraction.(40÷2)/(42÷2)=20/21
Check for further simplification: Check if the fraction can be simplified further.Since there is no number greater than 1 that divides both 20 and 21, the fraction is now in its simplest form.
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