INTRODUCTION TO PERCENT What Is Percent? • A percent is a term that describes a decimal in terms of one hundred. Percent means per hundred. • Percents, fractions and decimals all can equal each other, as in the case of 10%, 0.1 and 1/10. • Fractions and decimals can easily be changed into percent. • There are three cases of percent. o In the first, a percentage of a number is taken. o In the second, a number is given as ? percent of another number. o In the third case, a number is given as a percentage of ? number. • Percents can be greater than 100% or smaller than 1%. A markup from the cost of making an item to the actual sales price is usually greater than 100%. A salesperson's commission might be 1/2% depending on the item sold. How to use percent: • To change a fraction to a percent, the fraction must be put into terms of 100 if possible. For example, 3/4 changes into 75/100. Once it is in this form, the numerator becomes the percent, so 75%. • If the fraction cannot be put into terms of 100 easily, then divide the fraction to get into decimal form. For example, 16/27, when divided is .5925. Take the decimal form and move the decimal point two places to the right to find the percent. So .5925 becomes 59.25%. With decimals, move the decimal point two places to the right to get the percent. © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.
• The first of the three cases of percent is a percentage of a number is taken. Example: 16% of 45 is ___? To find the answer, multiply .16 by 45 to find the result of 7.2. • The second case of percent is when the percent is missing. Example: 3 is ___% of 20? To find the missing percent, divide 3 by 20 getting a result of 0.15. This answer is then changed to percent by moving the decimal point two places to the right, 15%. • The third case of percent is when the number that is being multiplied by the percent is missing. Example: 25 is 42% of ___? To find the missing number, divide 25 by the percent in decimal form to find the answer of 59.5. • To find a percent greater than 100%, use the same rules as above. For example, a coat costs $11 to make and it sells for 327% of its cost. How much does the coat cost? Answer: The coat sells for 327% of its cost or (327%)($11) = (3.27)(11) = $35.97. • A percent can also be less than 1%. If a salesperson earns 1/2% on the sale of a $600,000 house, how much does she earn? Example: 1/2% of 600,000=(.5%)(600,000)=(.005)(600,000)=$3000. © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.
Try This! 1. What is the fraction, 5/8, as a percent? 2. What is the decimal, .925, as a percent? 3. What is 85% as a decimal? 4. What is 45% as a fraction? 5. What is 25% of 82? 6. Five is what percent of 75? 7. Sixteen is 54% of what number? 8. What is 240% of 160? 9. What is 3/4% of 200? 10. Sneakers cost $4.25 to make and sell for 460% of their cost, how much do the sneakers sell for? © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.