Percentage

Fullscreen Mode

About Percentage

When four people share a pizza, each person gets one slice. We can express that slice as a number out of one hundred. That number shows how big the slice is compared to the whole pizza.

To find a percentage, divide the part by the whole and multiply by one hundred. A class has 20 boys and 30 girls. Adding them gives fifty students. Dividing twenty by fifty yields zero point four. Multiply by one hundred and you get forty percent of the class.

Stores use percent to cut prices. A shirt costs fifty dollars and fifty dollars times twenty percent equals ten dollars. Subtract that amount and the new price becomes forty dollars. Investors look at stocks. A price that jumps from one hundred to one hundred twenty shows a twenty percent gain.