What Is Percent?
A percentage is a mathematical way of expressing a number. The number being expressed can be considered a fraction, a part of a whole or an amount in comparison to one hundred. The word "percent" is short for the longer "percentage," and means "per one hundred." Percent numbers are expressed in many different ways and many forms, and can be computed in a variety of ways. They are often accompanied by a percentage sign.
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Decimals
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A percent is often indicated by and interchangeable with a decimal. Any percentage can be represented by the parts of one hundred it represents with a decimal. A percentage of 50 can be changed to a fraction by moving the decimal two spots to the left. Fifty percent of a number would be written and read as .5, or "point five." This number represents half of one whole number, which is the amount that 50 represents out of 100.
Fractions
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Fractions are also commonly used to connote the portion of a whole that a percentage does. Just like .75 equals 75%, so does it equal 3/4. The numbers in fractions can be made into percentages by dividing the top number by the bottom number. The answer will be the decimal version of the percentage, which can be made into the percent by moving the decimal two spots to the left.
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Calculations
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A percent of a total can be figured out by multiplying the percent that you would like to find by the total of objects that you have. Or, you can figure out what percent a certain number of a whole makes by doing the reverse, and dividing the two numbers.
Common Usage
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Percentages are very commonly used in sports to track different statistics obtained by different players. In baseball, batting average is a percentage of the time that a player gets a hit in all of his at-bats. A player who got two hits in five at-bats achieved success 40% of the time, which is demonstrated with the fraction .400. Other uses for percentages are in polls, averages and slopes.
Percent Sign
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The percent sign is the most common symbol used to connote a percentage. The symbol is a diagonal line going from the bottom left to the upper right, with small circles or ovals on each side of the line--the circles are on the upper left and the bottom right. The symbol is commonly found on keyboards using the Shift key and the numeral 5. It is found following the number without a space before it, and is usually read as the number followed by the word "percent." For example, "5%" reads "five percent."
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