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What is a Percentage ?


What is a percentage ?

Answering to the question ‘What is a percentage ?’ is easy.  Let’s look into the following example.

Your teacher may show how much marks that you have scored for a subject on the top right hand corner of the paper as follows.

What is a percentage ? - What is percent ?

You then know that you have scored 80 points out of 100 points for the particular subject, which means;

What is a percentage ? - What is percent ?

So;

What is a percentage ? - What is percent ?
 

What is percent?

Percent (per cent) means per 100 or out of 100.

Cent = 100

Cent means 100. In Latin cent is Centum, which means 100. Also, we know Century is 100 years or when you score 100 runs in a cricket match, you have got a century.

So;

Percent = Per cent = Per 100 (Out of 100)

 

Out of 100 cubes 25 cubes are coloured. This is 25 / 100, which means 25% of the diagram is coloured or ¼ of the diagram is coloured.

25 / 100 = 25 % = ¼

What is a percentage ? - What is percent ? - percentage chart 1

 

Out of 100 cubes 50 cubes are coloured. This is 50 / 100, which means 50% of the diagram is coloured or ½ of the diagram is coloured.

50 / 100 = 50 % = ½

What is a percentage ? - What is percent ? - percentage chart 2

 

Out of 100 cubes 75 cubes are coloured. This is 75 / 100, which means 75% of the diagram is coloured or ¾ of the diagram is coloured.

75 / 100 = 75 % = ¾

What is a percentage ? - What is percent ? - percentage chart 3

 

Examples of percentages:

6 % = 6 / 100
14 % = 14 / 100
33 % = 33 / 100
75 % = 75 / 100
20 % = 20 / 100
100 % = 100 / 100 = 1 (One whole number)

 

Percentages as fractions and decimals

A percent can also be shown as a fraction or a decimal.

 

Examples of percent to fraction to decimal;

 

Percentage

Fraction

Decimal

47%

47 / 100

0.47

11%

11 / 100

0.11

2%

2 / 100

0.02

60%

60 / 100

0.6

90%

90 / 100

0.9

 

Important percent, fraction and decimal relationships that you should know for quick maths solutions

 
What is a percentage ? - What is percent? - percentage chart 4

What is a percentage ? - What is percent ? - percentage chart 4

What is a percentage ? - What is percent ? - percentage chart 5

What is a percentage ? - What is percent ? - percentage chart 6

 

Percentage calculations

Examples of percentage calculations

 

(1) 35% of children in a school excursion are boys. What percentage are girls?

100% – 35 % = 65%

 

(2) Find 30% of 60

30% = 30 / 100
30% of 60
= 30 / 100 of 60
= 30 / 100 x 60
= 18

 

(3) 15% of 300 eggs are broken. How many eggs are broken?

15% = 15 / 100
15% of 300
= 15 / 100 of 300
= 15 / 100 x 300
= 45

 
(4) The old price of a surfboard was $450. The price was dropped by 20% in a sale. What is the new price of the surfboard?

Step 1: Find the amount dropped.

20% of $450
20% = 20/100
20% of $450
= 20 / 100 x $450
= $90

Step 2: Now find the new price.

$450 – $90
= $360

What is a percentage? Now you can answer this question easily and know how to do calculations in percentages. To practise more calculations in percents click the link below.