How to calculate percentage?
This information is valuable for those trying to calculate the percentage of marks, discounts, or just trying to complete some homework...
Here's everything you need to know about calculating percentages.
The equation can be written as follows:
(Given amount Divided by Total amount) x100 = %
Or you can calculate it by multiplying the number you have, by the percentage you are after so:
If you want to know 29% of 352, you would do 352 x 0.29 = 102.08
The simplest way to calculate percentage is to divide the given amount by the total amount and then multiply the answer by 100 to find the percentage.
Why is percent calculated in this way?
The term 'percent' means 'one hundredth', so to find 1% of a figure, you simply divide it by 100.
For example, if John scores 60 out of 75 in mathematics, we can find the percentage of his marks by dividing 60 by 75, which is 0.8 and then multiplying this figure by 100. This gives us the percentage of his marks in math, which is 80%.
(60/75) x 100 = 80%
Percentage questions are often worded in various ways in exams, such as:
- "Anne wants to buy 80% of the supermarket's 75 apples - how many apples will she buy?". Put into an equation, this is basically "How much is x% of y?" (80% of 75). We can find the answer by multiplying 75 by 80, and then dividing the amount by 100 to find the answer, which is 60 apples.
- To calculate percentage increase or decrease between two numbers, just subtract the smaller number from the greater, and then divide the answer by the original one. Then multiply it by 100 to determine the percentage increase or decrease.
- To calculate the percentage increase from 20 to 30, we subtract 20 from 30, and then divide the number obtained (which is 10) by the original number (which is 20). Then we multiply the obtained number - which is 0.5 - by 100 to get the percentage increase, which is 50%.