Calculating percentages is an easy task if you know the method. There are many percentage calculators online or even on your phone that can help you with this task by simply searching for “percentage calculator” or the % sign in your calculator. However, there may be times (although it seems unlikely) that you will need to be able to calculate percentages without any numerical assistance.
Before you can calculate a percentage, you must first understand exactly what a percentage is.
The word percentage comes from the word percent. If you divide the word percent into its root words, you see “per” and “hundred.” Cent is an old European word of French, Latin and Italian origin which therefore means “100”. So percent is directly translated as “percent”. If you have 83 percent, you literally have 83 percent. If it snowed 18 times in the last 100 days, it snowed 18 percent (18%) of the time.
The numbers you are going to convert to percentages can be given to you in 2 different formats, decimal and fractional. The decimal format is easier to calculate as a percentage. Converting a decimal to a percentage is as simple as multiplying it by 100. To convert 0.53 to a percentage, simply multiply 0.53 by 100.
0.53 × 100=53
The result is therefore 53%.
Percentage is often abbreviated by the symbol %. Presenting your answer as 53% or 53 percent is acceptable.
If you are given a fraction, convert it to a percentage by dividing the top number by the bottom number. If you are given 13/100, you will divide 13 by 100.
13 ÷ 100 = 0.13
Next, follow the steps above to convert a decimal to a percentage.
0.13 × 100 = 13
This gives us 13%.
The task is made even more difficult because you have to know a percentage as the numbers given to you do not correspond as precisely to 100.
Most of the time you will be given a percentage of a given number. For example, you may know that 38% of your salary will be allocated to taxes and you want to know how much money it is. To calculate the percentage of a given number, you must first convert the percentage number to a decimal place.
This process is the reverse of what you did previously. You divide your percentage by 100. So 38% would be 40 divided by 100 or 0.38.
38 ÷ 100 = 0.38
Once you have the decimal version of your percentage, simply multiply it by the given number. In this case, it is the amount of your salary. If your salary is €1200, you must multiply 1200 by 0.40.
1200 × 0.40 = 480
Your answer would be 480. You pay €480 in taxes.
Let’s try another example. You need to save 25% of your salary for the next six months to pay for your next vacation. If your salary is €1500, how much should you save?
Start by converting 25% to one decimal place.
25 ÷ 100 = 0.25
Now multiply the decimal by the amount of your salary, which is 1500.
1500 × 0.25 = 375
You need to save 375 euros from each paycheck.
