Percents

A percent employs a percent sign (%) followed by a number. It looks like this:
23%. A percent represents a fraction in which the number to the left of the % sign
is the numerator and 100 is the denominator. "Percent" means "parts per hundred,"
or "out of 100." 23% is equivalent to 23 hundredths, or 23/100, or 0.23.
100% is equal to 100 out of 100, or 1. Percents greater than 100% are fractions (or
decimals) greater than 1, while percents less than 100% are fractions (or decimals)
less than 1.
Expressing Percents as Decimals: To convert a percent into a decimal, move the
decimal point 2 places to the left and drop the percent sign. 36% becomes 0.36,
and 145% becomes 1.45. If the number in front of the percent has fewer than two
places in front of the decimal, add zeros to the left of the number, and then move
the decimal place. For example, 5% = 05% = 0.05 and 1.78% = 01.78% = 0.0178.
Expressing Decimals as Percents: To convert a decimal into a percent, move the
decimal point two places to the right and add the % sign. If there are fewer than
two places to the right of the decimal, add zeros at the end of the number after the
decimal point. For example, 0.986 = 98.6% and 1.8 = 1.80 = 180%.
Expressing Percents as Fractions: As stated earlier, a percent is a fraction in
which the number preceding the % sign is the numerator and 100 is the
denominator. Therefore, the first step in writing a percent as a fraction in lowest
terms is writing it as a fraction with denominator 100. For example, we write 82%
as 82/100 and 50% as 50/100.

The next step is to reduce the fraction--see Fractions. 82/100 reduces to 41/50 and
50/100 reduces to 1/2. Thus, 82% = 41/50 and 50% = 1/2.
If the number to the left of the % sign is not a whole number, first change the
percent to a decimal, and then change the decimal to a fraction. For example,
67.4% = 0.674 = 674/1000 = 337/500 .
Expressing Fractions as Percents :The easiest way to change a
fraction into a percent is first to change the fraction into a decimal
by dividing the numerator by the denominator, and then change
this decimal into a percent by moving the decimal point 2 places
to the right, as above. For instance, 7/8 = 0.875 = 87.5%