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Calculating Percentages: What Is A Percentage?

This document provides information on calculating percentages and examples for teaching children percentage calculations. It explains that percentages show parts of a whole using fractions with a denominator of 100. The key steps are to convert percentages to decimals by moving the decimal point two places left, or decimals to percentages by moving it two places right. Examples demonstrate calculating percentages of quantities and price increases. Worksheets are provided to practice finding 1% and multiplying to get the final percentage amount. Common errors like dividing instead of multiplying are discussed.

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173 views4 pages

Calculating Percentages: What Is A Percentage?

This document provides information on calculating percentages and examples for teaching children percentage calculations. It explains that percentages show parts of a whole using fractions with a denominator of 100. The key steps are to convert percentages to decimals by moving the decimal point two places left, or decimals to percentages by moving it two places right. Examples demonstrate calculating percentages of quantities and price increases. Worksheets are provided to practice finding 1% and multiplying to get the final percentage amount. Common errors like dividing instead of multiplying are discussed.

Uploaded by

karishma10
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Calculating percentages

As you guide your child you should also take the opportunity to explain the importance and relevance
of percentage calculations: pay rises, allowance rises, interest rates, discounts on sale items etc.
Learning is always improved when the relevance of what is being learned is appreciated.

What is a percentage?
Percent means for every 100 or "out of 100." The (%) symbol as a quick way to write a fraction with
a denominator of 100. As an example, instead of saying "it rained 14 days out of every 100," we say
"it rained 14% of the time."
Percentages can be written as decimals by moving the decimal point two places to the
left:

Decimals can be written as a percentages by moving the decimal point two places to
the right:

Formula for calculating percentages


The formula for calculating percentages or for converting from percentages are
relatively simple.
To convert a fraction or decimal to a percentage, multiply by 100:

To convert a percentage to a fraction, divide by 100 and reduce the fraction (if possible):

Examples of percentage calculations


The following two examples show how to calculate percentages.
1) 12 people out of a total of 25 were female. What percentage were female?

2) The price of a $1.50 candy bar was to be increased by 20%. What was the new price?

3) The tax on an item is $6.00. The tax rate is 15%. What is the price without tax?

Similar types of problems to those in the examples above are solved in a series of three
mini-lessons on Calculating with Percent. These are listed below.
#1: Introduction
#2: Calculating with Percent e.g. 12% of 80 is?

#3: Calculating with Percent e.g. 6 out of 8 is what % and 15 is 30% of what?

Percentage Chart
This Percentage Chart shows what 15% of $1 through $100 is although it is
customizable so you can set the percentage and the numbers to whatever you want.

Find 1% - The Unitary Method


Handy Tip: A good way of finding percentages is to start by finding what 1%
is.
Example: What is 6% of 31?
Find 1%.
Divide by 100 (or move the decimal point two places to the left)

31 100 = .
31

We now know what 1% is. We just need to multiply it by 6 to find


6%

.31 x 6 =
1.86

6% of 31 is 1.86
You can practice calculating percentages by first finding 1% (and/ or finding 10%) and
then multiplying to get your final answer using this Calculating Percentages in Two Steps
Worksheet. There are also more percentage worksheets here too.

Common error when finding a percentage


Since percentages are often thought of as parts of a larger whole thing, there can a
tendency to divide instead of multiply when faced with a problem such as "find 35% of
80." As the example below shows, after converting the percent to a decimal, the next
step is to multiply, not divide.

An understanding of percent allows students to estimate to check whether their answer


is reasonable. In this example, knowing that 35% is between one-quarter and one-half
would mean the answer should be somewhere between 20 and 40.

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