Calculating the percentage of money amounts is exactly the same principle as calculating the percentage of anything. Percentages aren't just used for working out money amounts, percentages are all around us. Everywhere we look, from displaying the amount of fat in foods to the amount of moisture in the air, percentages are always worked out on the basis that the whole amount is 100% and anything else is a fraction of that figure.
We are pretty much all aware that half of something is 50% etc but it can be a little more confusing when the figures are not so simple to work out, so it is worth knowing the procedure for working out percentages. When you want to know a percentage, you are usually presented with two figures, you need to divide the smaller number by the larger one and then multiply that figure by 100. For example, if you took a test and scored 36 out of a possible 90, you would divide 36 by 90 and then multiply the resulting figure by 100 (36/90 x 100 = 40). So you would have scored 40% in the test.
When it comes to money the only slight differences is that people often use the decimal method rather than a percentage. For example, if you were in a restaurant and your bill came to $80 and you wanted to leave a 20% tip you would do this by turning the percentage into a fraction. You do this by dividing the percentage by 100. 50% becomes 0.5, 20% becomes 0.2 and so on and then multiplying this by the amount of your bill. So for this tip you would multiply 0.2 by 80 (0.2 x 80 = 16) so the tip would be $16.
We are pretty much all aware that half of something is 50% etc but it can be a little more confusing when the figures are not so simple to work out, so it is worth knowing the procedure for working out percentages. When you want to know a percentage, you are usually presented with two figures, you need to divide the smaller number by the larger one and then multiply that figure by 100. For example, if you took a test and scored 36 out of a possible 90, you would divide 36 by 90 and then multiply the resulting figure by 100 (36/90 x 100 = 40). So you would have scored 40% in the test.
When it comes to money the only slight differences is that people often use the decimal method rather than a percentage. For example, if you were in a restaurant and your bill came to $80 and you wanted to leave a 20% tip you would do this by turning the percentage into a fraction. You do this by dividing the percentage by 100. 50% becomes 0.5, 20% becomes 0.2 and so on and then multiplying this by the amount of your bill. So for this tip you would multiply 0.2 by 80 (0.2 x 80 = 16) so the tip would be $16.