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By the Editors of Indeed Percentage Calculation Made Simple in 3 Easy Steps (With Examples)
A talented and diverse collection of writers, researchers, and subject-matter experts, the Indeed Editorial Team uses Indeed's data and insights to offer you career guidance.
Percentage computation is a simple and uncomplicated mathematical process. Percentages are often used to explain the relationship between two numbers or to express the proportion of one number to another.
This article breaks down what percentages are and how to calculate them. Additionally, we illustrate the proper use of shares with illustrative instances.
To what do percentages refer?
Depending on the context, percentages may be expressed as whole numbers or as ratios written as fractions of 100. The symbols "%" and "percent" are often used to represent these. Sixty-five percent (or 65%) is a standard proportion. Those may also be written as simple fractions or decimal fractions.
The word "percentage" is made from the preposition "per" and the monetary unit "cent." The words "cent," "hundred," and "percent" all have their roots in Latin and French, respectively. For instance, fifty percent (sometimes represented as 50/100) indicates that fifty pieces of the whole are in question.
"Calculating percentage" means determining a given quantity as a fraction of 100. You may do the math in your head or use one of the numerous internet calculators.
Methods for interpreting percentages.
The following are the processes involved in manually calculating percentages:
Step1: Convert a decimal, fraction, or percentage to identify the principal representation of the number.
If you need to turn a whole number into a percentage, you may do it in either decimal or fractional form. Decimal numbers seem like the integer 0.57, whereas fractions look like the fraction 3/20. Once the present mathematical process is complete, the original format will determine what action to take with the number.
Step 2: Perform arithmetic operations on the desired amount to convert it to a percentage.
If the number to be transformed into a percentage is a decimal figure like 0.57, you may not need to do anything more before proceeding. A fraction, such as 3/20, may be written as a decimal by dividing its top number (the numerator) by its bottom number (the denominator), as shown below.
The solution is simple: multiply by 100!
Multiplying a decimal number, such as 0.57, by 100 will give you the corresponding percentage. This means that 57 is proportional to 50.57 times 100. Therefore, if we convert the decimal number 0.57 to a rate, we get 57%. Multiplying 0.03% by 100 is yet another example.
If you need to turn a fraction into a percentage, say 3/20, divide 3 by 20 to get 0.15. If you multiply 0.15 by 100, you'll get a final result of 15%.