Percents Tutorial


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Percent

Percent is derived from two words - Per meaning for each and cent which is short for 100 (one hundred). Think about a century (100 years) or one cent (penny) because it takes 100 pennies to make 1.00.

So, when someone says 35% of the people responding said "Yes" to a question that means that 35 people for each (per) 100 people responded yes.

Percent can also be written as a fraction with 100 always in the denominator. so 35% can also be written as 35/100. The decimal form is then

= .35

We can write percents in many ways: Example: 25% is equal to:

  • 25%
  • 25/100
  • 0.25
  • 25 percent

A convenient method for working with percents has been established and it is called the "Percent Equation." A tool to help you check the "Percent Equation" is presented below. The "Percent Equation" is stated as the following:

"A is P percent of B." which can then be set up to solve as such:

A
---
=
P
---
B
100


What is % of ?

Answer:

Or...

is what percent of ?

Answer: %

Illinois Learning Standards

STATE GOAL 6: Demonstrate and apply a knowledge and sense of numbers, including numeration and operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division), patterns, ratios and proportions..

6.D.4 Solve problems involving recipes or mixtures, financial calculations and geometric similarity using ratios, proportions and percents.


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Email Jim Dildine
Date Last Modified: 8/31/99
James P. Dildine