PERCENT

The idea of percentage was developed at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Percent was then
denoted by “P centro” or by hundreds. Probably in 1425, an unknown mathematician used the symbol
“PQ” to denote percentage. In 1650, “PQ” was preplaced by “P-“. Afterwards, “P” was replaced leaving
only “-“ which eventually became %.

The word “percent” is a short form of the Latin “per centum” meaning “every hundred.” A percent or
“rate of percent” is always a ratio pf some number to 100. The symbol % is used for percentage.

If you say 25% of the people in a cinema hall are students, then we mean that 25 out of every hundred
are pupils.

CONVERTING FRACTIONS TO PERCENT

Fractions are written as percent by converting its denominator to 100 and then replacing 1/100 with the
sign %.

Example: Express ¼ as percent.

Solution: To convert the fraction ¼ to percent, multiply by 25/25 so that the denominator
becomes 100.

¼ = ¼ x 25/25 = 25/100 x 1/100 = 25%

Another method to change fractions to percent is to multiply the given fraction by 100/1 and affix the %
sign.

¼ x 100/1 %= 25%

1/5 x 100/1 % = 20%

CONVERTING PERCENTS TO FRACTIONS

To convert percent to fraction, replace the % sign with 1/100 and reduce the fraction to its
lowest terms.

70% = 70 x 1/100 = 70/100 = 7/10

40% = 40 x 1/100 = 40/100 = 2/5

3.5% = 3.5 x 1/100 = 3.5/100 x 10/10 = 35/1000 = 7/200

6% = 6 x 1/100 = 6/100 = 3/50

 CONVERTING PERCENT TO DECIMALS

To convert percents to decimals, remove the % sign then move the decimal point two places to
the left.

75% = 0.75
4% = 0.04
79.5% = 0.795
150% = 1.50
0.25% = 0.0025

CONVERTING DECIMALS TO PERCENTS

To convert decimals to percent, move the decimals two places to the right. Add zeros if
necessary, then put a % sign.

0.57 = 5.7% 0.5 = 50%

0.375 = 37.5% 0.00324 = 0.324%
3.27 = 327% 2.0 = 200%

OPERATIONS ON PERCENT

MULTIPLYING BY PERCENT

To multiple a number by any percent, convert the percent to its equivalent decimal number, then
multiply.

Example 1:

25% of 80 = 0.25 x 80 = 20

65% 0f 400 = 0.65 x 400 = 260

Multiplication by aliquot parts or fractional equivalents of 100%

The aliquot parts of 100% have exact fractional equivalents. These aliquot parts are used to
shorten computation.

ALIQUOT PARTS= FRACTIONAL ALIQUOT PARTS= FRACTIONAL ALIQUOT PARTS= FRACTIONAL

EQUIVALENT EQUIVALENT EQUIVALENT
10% = 1/10 90% = 9/10 66 2/3 % = 2/3
20% = 1/5 25% = ¼ 16 2/3% = 1/6
30% = 3/10 75% = ¾ 83 1/3% = 5/6
40% = 2/5 12 1/2 % = 1/8 5% = 1/20
50% = ½ 37 ½% = 3/8 4% = 1/25
70% = 7/10 87 1/2% = 7/8 14 2/7% = 1/7
80% = 4/5 33 1/3% = 1/3 8 1/3 % = 1/12
To multiply a number by any of these aliquot parts, it is easier to convert the percent first to the
fractional equivalent then multiply.

12 ½% of P5,600 = 1/8 x P5,600 = P700

83 1/3% of P420 = 5/6 x P420 = P350

Division by Percent

To divide a number by a percent, convert the percent to its decimal or fractional equivalent
before doing the division.

a) 18 is 36% of what number?

18/36% = 18 /0.36 = 1800/36 = 50

b) 48 is 37 ½ % of what number?

3
48/37 ½% = 48 / = 48 x 8/3 = 128
8

OR

a) 18/36 X 100 = 1800/36 = 50

1
b) 48/ 37 x 100 = 48/37.5 x 1000 = 48000/375 = 128
2

PERCENTAGE, BASE AND RATE

There are three basic elements in percentage problems, namely: rate, base and percentage.

RATE, denoted by R, is the number of hundredth parts taken.

BASE, denoted by B, is the whole on which the rate is applied.

PERCENTAGE, denoted by P, is the part of the base determined by the rate.

FINDING THE PERCENTAGE

To find the percentage, we multiply the base by the rate. Before multiplying, we can express the
rate either as a decimal or a fraction, whichever is more convenient.

P=BXR
 A. 70% of 90 = 0.70 x 90 = 63

70% is the rate, 90 is the base and 63 is the percentage

b. 66 2/3 % of 180 = 2/3 x 180 = 120

FINDING THE RATE

From the basic formula P = B x R, we can solve for R as follows:

R=P÷B

To find the rate, we divide the percentage by the base and express the results as percent or
fraction.

a. 9 is what % of 36?

R = 9/36 = 0.25 or 25%

b. 35 is what % of 70?

R = 35/70 = 0.5 or 50%

FINDING THE BASE

We can derive the formula for the base in the same manner that we derive the formula for the
rate.

B=P÷R

a) 60% of what number is 12?

B = P/R = 12/0.60 = 120/6 = 20

b) 3/8 of what number is 180?

B = 180 ÷ 3/8 = 180 x 8/3 = 480

PERCENTAGE INCREASE OR DECREASE

To find the amount of increase or decrease of a given number, multiply the number by the rate.
To determine the amount after the increase or decrease, add the amount to the number f it is an
increase, or subtract the amount from the given number if it is a decrease.

a) What number is 10% more than 170?

10% of 170 = 0.10 x 170 = 17

170 + 17 = 187
 b) What number is 30% less than 180?

30% of 180 = 0.30 x 180 = 54

180 – 54 = 126

c. What number is ¼ greater than 200?

¼ of 200 = 50

200 + 50 = 250

FINDING THE RATE OF INCREASE OR RATE OF DECREASE

To find the rate of increase or decrease, we first find the amount of increase or decrease. Then
divide this amount by the base. The base can sometimes be identified as the number that follows the
word “than”. The quotient of the amount of increase (or decrease) divided by the base is expressed as
percent or as a fraction in its lowest terms.

a) 84 is what % more than 80?

84 – 80 = 4

4/80 = 0.05 or 5% more

b) 125 is what % less than 150%

150 – 125 = 25 (amount of decrease)

25/150 = 1/6 or 16 2/3% less

c) 180 is what fractional part more than 160?

180-160 = 20

20/160 = 1/8 more

d) P2,250 is what fractional part less than P2,500?

P2,500 – P2,250 = P250

P250/P2,500 = 1/10 less

FINDING THE BASE

To solve for the base given the amount and the rate of increase or decrease, we take the
following steps.
1. If the rate of increase is given, then add this to 100%.
If the rate if decrease is given, then subtract the rate from 100%.

2. Divide the given percentage by the sum obtained in step 1.

a) 10% more than what number is 330?

10% + 100% = 110%

330/110% = 330/1.1 = 3,300/11 = 300

b) 2 400 is 20% less than what number?

100% - 20% = 80%

2 400/80% = 2 400/0.8 = 24 000/8 = 3 000

c) 1/5 more than what number is 18%

1/5 + 5/5 = 6/5

18/ 6/5 = 18 x 5/6 = 15