calculate percentage
How to Calculate Percentage
Learn how to calculate percentage and percentage increase with various examples to aid you.
Percentage = (Given number/Total number) x 100
For example, if your score in an exam is 45 out of 50 the percent score will be 90% [(45/50) x 100].Example 1: If you are given two numbers, say 15 and 40, and asked to find the percentage of the lower number to the higher, this is how you go about it. 15/40 = 0.375, multiply it by 100, that is, 0.375 x 100 = 37.5% So, the number 15 is 37.5% of the number 40. |
Example 2: Let's say I have a basket of fruits. Out of a total of 20 fruits, 5 are apples, 10 are oranges and 5 are pineapples. Then the percentage of all three fruits in the basket is calculated in the following way. First determine the 'part' and the 'whole'. Here the 'whole' is the fruit basket containing 20 fruits and the parts are 5 apples, 10 oranges and 5 pineapples. Secondly, you must determine the fraction of fruits in the basket, that are apples, oranges and pineapples. That is, you must establish the fractions. Here the fractions are: Fraction of Apples in the Basket = 5/20 = ¼ Fraction of Oranges in the Basket = 10/20 = ½ Fraction of Pineapples in the Basket = 5/20 = ¼ So, one can now say that one-fourth of the fruits are apples, half are oranges and remaining one-fourth are pineapples. Once the fraction has been established, calculating percentages is extremely simple. The percentage of apples in the basket is calculated using the following formula. Percentage (%) = (Part/Whole) x 100 Therefore, in the example presented above, Percentage of Apples = 5/20 x 100 = ¼ x 100 = 25% Percentage of Oranges = 10/20 x 100 = 1/2 x 100 = 50% Percentage of Pineapples = 5/20 x 100 = ¼ x 100 = 25% |
Example 3: 15 out of 30 girls wore pink ribbons to the party. Calculate the number of girls in percentage who wore pink ribbons. 15/30 x 100 = 0.5 x 100 = 50% |
Example 4: The ice cream seller increased the price of his strawberry ice cream cone, earlier priced at $2.50, by 15%. Calculate the new price of strawberry ice cream cone. 2.50 x 15/100 = 0.375. Round off 0.375 to 0.4 Add 0.4 + 2.50 = $3 Therefore the new price is now $3. |
Example 5: There were forty sparrows sitting on a tree. Ten flew away, so what is the percentage of sparrows that flew away? 10/40 x 100 = 25% You may complicate the above problem by trying to calculate the percentage of sparrows that are still sitting on the tree. The solution then would be: Number of sparrows still sitting on the tree = Total sparrows - number of sparrows who flew away, i.e., 40 - 10 = 30. Percentage of sparrows still sitting on the tree = 30/40 x 100 = 75% |