Percentage

percent actually means per 'cent'  

                                                    or per one hundred (cent comes from the latin word centum meaning 100)

%  this is the symbol for percentage 

note that it somewhat resembles a fraction or a division ( ÷ )

and has two circles (just like the number 100)

A simple look at percents...

(this video is about 2 and a half minutes)

the easiest way to find the percentage of a number is to multiply it by 

the decimal or fraction representation of the given percentage

25% of 100  can be calculated by multiplying 100 with 0.25

                                                  or by multiplying 100 with the fraction  25    or   1

                                                                                                               100         4

Notice the pattern in these percentages represented in decimal form...

(each percent is converted by moving the decimal point to place to the left)

12% = 0.12

25% = 0.25

43% = 0.43

60% = 0.60 or 0.6

88% = 0.88

and the tricky ones ↓

take note that 132% = 1.32

                         242% = 2.42

                   and   2% = 0.02

                             7% = 0.07

Useful video for finding the percentage of a number

(this video is about a minute and a half)

Further hints...

Quick calculations with percentages...

to quickly calculate the price of something with tax

if the tax is 15% multiply the original price by 1.15

                                                  this will account for the tax  ( original price x 0.15  )

                                                                        and for the original price  ( original price x 1  )

this tip will save you the extra step of adding the tax to the original price

cent' is french for one hundred

'cent' is also used in relation to money 

                                  $ 0.01 is one cent or one of one hundred cents

a century is one hundred years

a centimeter is one hundredth of a meter

ONLINE TESTS

Test your skills comparing decimals and percentages at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/skillswise/mod_quizzes/numbers/fractiondecimalpercentage/comparing/decimalspercentages/quizengine?quiz=simplequiz1;templateStyle=simplequiz;pagerType=pages;pagerData=1

Test your skills putting decimals and percentages in the right order at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/skillswise/mod_quizzes/numbers/fractiondecimalpercentage/comparing/decimalspercentages/quizengine?quiz=simplequiz2;templateStyle=simplequiz;pagerType=pages;pagerData=1

Test your skills comparing fractions and percentages at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/fractiondecimalpercentage/comparing/fractionspercentages/quiz.shtml

(there are three levels of difficulty to choose from)

Test your skills comparing percentages with decimals and fractions at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/fractiondecimalpercentage/comparing/comparingall3/quiz.shtml

(there are three levels of difficulty to choose from)