Working with Percents

Ever wondered how to switch between percents, decimals, and fractions? It's easier than you think! To change a percent to a decimal, just divide by 100 (or move the decimal point two places left). For example, 20% becomes 0.20 and 9.2% becomes 0.092.

Turning a percent into a fraction is just as simple. Put the percent over 100 and simplify. So 32% becomes 32/100, which simplifies to 4/25. Even numbers over 100% work this way—115% becomes 115/100 or 1 3/20.

Finding a percent of a number is super useful for calculating discounts or tips. Just multiply the number by the decimal form of the percent. For instance, to find 20% of 15, multiply 15 × 0.2 = 3.

Pro Tip: Learn these common percent shortcuts! Find 50% by dividing by 2, 25% by dividing by 4, 10% by dividing by 10, 5% by dividing by 20, and 1% by dividing by 100. These mental math tricks will save you tons of time!

Converting in the other direction is just as straightforward. To change a decimal to a percent, multiply by 100 (move decimal point right two places) and add the % sign. For example, 0.46 becomes 46%. For fractions to percents, either convert to decimal first or find an equivalent fraction with denominator 100.