In today’s world, percentages are used in a variety of ways. They’re a common way to communicate statistics and they’re also used in mathematical calculations. If you need to calculate percentages, there are a few different methods you can use depending on the information you have. In this blog post, we’ll show you how to calculate percentages using three different methods.
What is a percentage?
A percentage is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. It is often denoted using the percent sign, “%”, or sometimes as “pct.” For example, 45% (read as “forty-five percent”) is equal to 45100, or 0.45. Percentages can be written using decimals (2.5%), fractions (2 1/2%), or even per mille (‰) notation (0.025%).
Percentage Definition
When you hear the word “percentage,” you might think of a grade on a test or maybe your favorite player’s batting average. But what exactly is a percentage?
A percentage is a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100. It is often denoted using the percent sign, “%”. For example, 70% means 70 out of 100, or 7 out of 10.
To calculate a percentage, you first need to know what the whole amount is. This is called the base amount. You also need to know what part of that base amount you are interested in. This is called the portion amount.
Once you have those two numbers, you can divide the portion amount by the base amount and multiply by 100 to get the percentage. For example, if your test score was 70 out of 100, you would divide 70 by 100 to get 0.7, and then multiply by 100 to get 70%.
Similarly, if your favorite player had a batting average of 0.300 (that is, he gets a hit 30% of the time), you would divide 0.3 by 1 (the base amount) and then multiply by 100 to get 30%.
How to get a Percentage?
To calculate a percentage, you need to first convert the percentage into a decimal. To do this, simply move the decimal point two places to the left. For example, if you have a percentage of 25%, you would convert it to 0.25. Once you have the decimal, multiply it by the whole to find the part. In our example, you would multiply 0.25 by 100 (the whole) to get 25 (the part).
Formula to Calculate Percentage
To calculate a percentage, you need to know two things: the whole value and the part value. The part value is what percentage you want, and the whole value is the total amount of items being considered. To get started, let’s look at an example.
Suppose you have a class of 30 students and 26 of them passed. What percent of the class passed?
To answer this, we set up a proportion using equivalent fractions:
26/30 = x/100
We can solve for x by cross multiplying:
26*100 = 30x
2600 = 30x
2600/30 = x
86.66666666666667 = x
Thus, 86.66666666666667% of the class passed.
Percentage Difference Between Two Numbers
When you want to find the percentage difference between two numbers, there are a few steps you’ll need to follow. First, you’ll need to subtract the smaller number from the larger number. Then, you’ll need to divide that result by the smaller number. Finally, multiply that result by 100 and you’ll have your percentage difference!
How to Calculate Percentage Increase?
To calculate the percentage increase, you will need to take the difference between the new value and the original value, divide it by the original value, and multiply by 100.
For example:
If youroriginal value is 10 and your new value is 15, you would take the difference (5), divide it by the original value (10), and multiply by 100. This would give you a 50% increase.
How to Calculate Percentage Decrease?
To calculate the percentage decrease of a value, you will need to know the original value and the new value. The original value is the starting point for the calculation and the new value is what the starting point has changed to. The difference between the two values is divided by the original value and multiplied by 100 to get a percent decrease.
For example, if something that was originally worth $100 decreases in value to $80, the percent decrease would be ((100-80)/100)*100 which equals 20%.
How to calculate percentages using a calculator
To calculate percentages using a calculator, you will need to know the following:
– What percentage you are trying to find
– The whole amount or base number
– How many decimal places you want the answer to be accurate to
Once you have this information, you can use a calculator to find the percentage in one of two ways.
The first way is to divide the percentage by 100 and then multiply it by the base number. For example, if you wanted to find 10% of 50, you would divide 10 by 100 to get 0.1 and then multiply that by 50 to get 5.
Alternatively, you could also move the decimal point two places to the left in both the percentage and base number before dividing them. So, in our example above, we would take 10 and move the decimal point two places to the left to get 0.01. We would do the same with 50 to get 5.0. We would then divide 0.01 by 5.0 which would give us 0.002, or 2%.
How to calculate percentages without a calculator
If you’re ever in a situation where you need to calculate a percentage but don’t have a calculator handy, there’s a simple way to do it. Just follow these steps:
1. Convert the percentage to a decimal by moving the decimal point two places to the left. For example, if the percentage is 12%, you would convert it to 0.12.
2. Multiply the decimal by the total number that you’re trying to find the percentage of. So, if you’re trying to find out what 12% of 100 is, you would multiply 0.12 by 100 to get 12.
3. To convert the answer back into a percentage, move the decimal point two places to the right. So, in our example above, 12 would become 1200%, or 12%.
What are some common percentages?
There are a variety of different percentages that can be calculated, but some of the most common include:
-Percentage of a total: This is perhaps the most straightforward type of percentage calculation. To find the percentage of a total, simply take the desired amount and divide it by the total. For example, if you want to know what percent 25 is of 100, you would divide 25 by 100 to get 0.25, or 25%.
-Percentage increase or decrease: To calculate a percentage increase or decrease, you will need to know the original value and the new value. Once you have those figures, subtract the original value from the new value, and then divide that result by the original value. The resulting number should be multiplied by 100 to get your percentage. For example, if something that was originally worth $100 increases in value to $110, you would take 110-100=10, 10/100=0.1, and finally 0.1×100=10%. So in this case there has been a 10% increase.
-Percentage of change: Similar to calculating a percentage increase or decrease, this type of calculation requires knowing both the original value and the new value. However, rather than subtracting the original value from the new as we did before, we will be adding them together.
Conclusion
To calculate percentages, you will need to use a calculator or a pencil and paper. The first step is to convert the percentage into a decimal. To do this, you will need to move the decimal point two places to the left. For example, if the percentage is 12%, you will need to convert it to 0.12.
Once you have converted the percentage into a decimal, you can multiply it by the number that you are trying to find the percentage of. For example, if you want to find out what 12% of 100 is, you would multiply 0.12 by 100. This would give you an answer of 12.
You can also use percentages to calculate how much something has increased or decreased by. To do this, you will first need to find the difference between the two numbers that you are comparing. You can then divide this number by the original number and multiply it by 100. This will give you the percentage change as a decimal. For example, if something has increased from 10% to 12%, you would first find the difference between these two numbers (2). You would then divide this number by 10 (0.2) and multiply it by 100 (20). This would give you an answer of 20%.
