How To Calculate Percentage?

The word percentage is derived from the word per cent. The origination of the word ‘cent’ comes from French or Italian word which means hundred. So the word percent can be translated as ‘per hundred’ or ‘out of 100’ or ‘for every hundred’. It is represented by the symbol %. The numbers that are converted into percentages can change in any of the two formats, i.e. decimal or fractions.
Percentages can be shown as decimals by shifting the decimal point to the left by two places. The decimals can be written as percentages by shifting the decimal point to the right by two places.
If a fraction is given, to convert into a percentage you should divide the numerator by the denominator number.

Calculating Percentage:
It is essential to learn how to calculate the percentage not only to score well in mathematics, but it helps a great deal in your daily lives too. This knowledge is fundamental to many everyday calculations that you will have to make. It is easy to calculate percentages as the formula is simple.

To convert a number which is a fraction or a decimal to a percentage you should multiply the number by 100.
If you want to convert the fraction ½ into a percentage:

½ * 100 = 50. The answer is 50%
Similarly, the decimal 0.5 can be converted into a percentage by 0.5* 100 = 50 %.

To convert a percentage into a fraction, you should divide it by 100.
Ex: 50% is written as 50/100 = ½
Similarly, a percentage can be converted into a decimal number too.
Ex: 50 % = 50/100 = ½ = 0.5

Complex Calculations:
The numbers mentioned above fit into 100 easily, and hence percentage calculation is simple. It is difficult to find the percentage when a number is given that doesn’t fit into 100. In a percentage calculation more often you will be given a percentage of a number. Ex: If you are asked to take a pay cut of 20%, to find out how much money you are losing, you will have to convert the percent into a decimal. To do that divide the number by 100, i.e 20/100 = 0.2. Now to find the pay cut, if you have a salary of 1000, your current pay check will be 1000*0.2 = 200. So your salary will see a reduction of $200. The take home will be $1000-$200 = $800.

Use of Percentages in Daily-life:
Knowingly or unknowingly we use percentages in our everyday life. A student gets a test score in percentage, a shopper gets a discount for Christmas or New Year sales from retail stores, and the discount is shown in %. Ex: 20 % off, a customer survey result is shown in percentages, your smartphone battery charge is displayed in percentage, the election results show what percentage of people voted for which party, the amount of tip you should pay at a restaurant is also a percentage of your bill amount and much more.

The percentage is a part and parcel of our daily lives, be it sports, work, school or college you have used it to solve several real-life problems.