Converting various different measurements into a percentage can be rather a difficult procedure. Converting grams into a percentage is a prime example - it is not actually possible to convert grams directly into a percentage as one (the grams) is a unit mass and the other (the percentage) is a ratio (that does not have a unit). Many people make the misconception of thinking of the grams per decilitre; this is quite often referred to as an abbreviation. Many refer to this as g percent or gm percent; this is a unit of density and can therefore be used as a percentage. The easiest way to explain how this percentage is calculated is to use it in a case where you are making a cake recipe. When you are in a situation where you have two or more masses mixed together it is possible to calculate the ratio of either mass within the total mass and thus calculate the percentage from this figure. For example, if you are baking a cake and you have 10 grams of sugar in the mixture and 190 grams of flour then the total mass that you have in the bowl is 200 grams (10 grams plus 190 grams). This means that the ratio of the mass of sugar to the total mass is 10:200. To calculate the percentage of the mass you need to divide the 10 by 200 this will give you a figure of 0.05. Then multiply the 0.05 by 100 to give you the percentage, so 0.05 multiplied by 100 gives you 5 percent. This means that the sugar is five percent of the total mass of the mixture and the flour is 95 percent of the total mass of the mixture. So, you cannot convert grams to a percentage but you can calculate the grams per decilitre.
