How to Convert Percents to Fractions

Convert any percent into a fraction.

Percentages and fractions are everywhere. From local retail stores, where discounts are written as a percent (i.e., 50 percent off the retail price) to the kitchen, where recipes frequently require a fraction of an ingredient (i.e. 2/3 cups of white flour), percentages and fractions are a staple of every life. Learn how you can convert a percentage to a fraction and reduce the resulting number to its lowest term.

Instructions

Whole Number Percents

1. Drop the percent sign and write out the percent numerically. For example, write out 75 percent as 75.

2. Divide the percent by 100. For example, 75 percent becomes 75/100.

3. Simplify the fraction to its lowest term. Determine the greatest common factor of the numerator (75) and the denominator (100), which in this case is 25. Divide both numbers by 25. The fraction 75/100 reduces to 3/4.

Decimal Percents

1. Drop the percent sign and write out the percent numerically. For example, write out 75 percent as 75.

2. Find the whole number value of the percent if it is not already a whole number. For example, 62.5 is not a whole number and must be multiplied by 10. Multiply the decimal by how many numbers there are after the decimal point. In the case of the decimal 62.5, there is one number after the decimal point, so you would use 10. Do the same for the denominator. Write down 625/1000.

3. Simplify the fraction by dividing it by the greatest common factor, which in this case is 25. The fraction 625/1000 reduces to 25/40, which further reduces to 5/8 when you divide those two number by 5 (the greatest common factor of 25/40).

Tips & Warnings

• A factor is a number that divides evenly into a larger number.

References

• MathsIsFun: Converting Percents to Fractions
• MathAssociationofAmerica: Fractions and Units in Everyday Life