How to Find the Percentage of a Base Number
When dealing with percentages, the base number is the number you start with. In a sale, the base number is the original price of the item that is then discounted; when you take out a loan, the interest you pay is a percentage of the capital you borrowed, the base number.
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Instructions
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Determine your starting point; for example the original price of the discounted item, or the amount of money borrowed on which you have to pay interest.
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Determine the relevant percentage. If calculating a discount, you are more interested in what you will end up paying. A 40% discount means you will pay 60% of the original price because 100 - 40 = 60.
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Multiply the base number by the percentage divided by 100. For example, a $200 coat with a 40% discount means you will pay 60% of the cost. $200 * (60/100) = $120. So you pay $120. If you want to calculate how much interest you would pay at 5% on a $1000 loan, then the calculation is as follows: $1000 * (5/100) = $50.
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Tips & Warnings
If you want to know how much a value will increase, you need to do it slightly differently. Say you have $1000 in a savings account that pays 4%. After one year you will have $1000 * (104/100) = $1040. Note that we use 104, not 4, in the equation. That is because what we want to know here is the total we will end up with after one year, so we will have 100% of our original deposit plus 4% interest, hence we use 104.
References
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