Introduction to Percentages
What is a percentage?
- “Per-cent” simply means “out of 100” (or “ ÷ 100”)
- Rewriting fractions as percentages means they can be compared more easily
- You can do this by finding an equivalent fraction with a denominator of 100
- The three percentages are much easier to compare than the three fractions
- Percentages are also equivalent to decimals
- Notice that a decimal can be converted to a percentage by multiplying by 100
- Therefore a percentage can be converted to a decimal by dividing by 100
- A fraction can be written as a percentage by finding the decimal equivalent
- You could use your calculator to do this
- e.g.