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.

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

So;

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

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

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

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

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.

Written By : K8School