percentage

Sign: %

The meaning of percentage is ‘in every 100’ or ‘out of 100’. It is shown by the % sign.

A percentage is a number which can be expressed as a fraction of 100.

For example, 25% of the box opposite is green.

25% is equal to , or 0.25, or one quarter.

50% is equal to , or 0.50, or one half.

75% is equal to , or 0.75, or three quarters.

100% is equal to a whole.

We can also calculate a percentage of something, by using the percentage as an operator.

Let’s use the following as an example.

Imagine that there’s a sale in a furniture shop. There is a reduction of 15% on everything. You have seen a chair that you like which costs £300. What is 15% of £300?

There are 3 hundreds in 300.

The meaning of 15% is 15 out of every 100.

15% of 300 = 3 × 15 = 45

Therefore, 300 – 45 = 255.

The cost of the chair in the sale is £255.