How to Find Percent Formula

Percentages represent the portion of 100 outcomes that are successful or meet certain criteria. For example, a student might get 90 percent of the questions on a test right, meaning if the test were 100 questions, the student would get 90 right, or income taxes might account for 45 percent of the government's income, meaning that out of every $100 of revenue, $45 comes from income taxes. Percentages are a way to standardize proportions because they use a common number, 100, as the number of attempts.

Things You'll Need

• Calculator

Instructions

1. Determine the number of successful outcomes. For example, if you were calculating a student's percentage score on a test, you would total the number of correct answers.

2. Determine the number of total attempts. For example, if you were calculating a student's percentage score on a test, you would total the number of questions asked.

3. Divide the number of successful outcomes by the number of total attempts. For example, if a student got 20 out of 25 questions right, you would divide 20 by 25 and get 0.80.

4. Multiply the decimal from Step 3 by 100 to convert it to a percent. For example, 0.80 times 100 would be 80 percent.

References

• Percentage Tutorial
• Converting Between Decimals, Fractions and Percents