Mathematics
What is Percentage?
A percentage is a way of expressing a number as a part of 100. The word means 'per hundred', so 50% means 50 out of 100, or one half. Percentages make it easy to compare proportions — like scores, discounts, and statistics.
See it, don’t just read it.
Watch a 2-minute lesson with voice + animation that explains percentage.
Key things to understand
- 1'Per cent' means 'per hundred', so a percentage is a fraction out of 100.
- 250% = 50/100 = ½ = 0.5 — three ways of writing the same amount.
- 3To find a percentage of a number, multiply: 20% of 50 = 0.20 × 50 = 10.
- 4Percentages let you compare proportions fairly, even when the totals differ.
- 5They're everywhere: test scores, discounts, interest rates, battery levels.
Frequently asked questions
- What does percent mean?
- 'Per cent' literally means 'per hundred'. So 25% means 25 out of every 100 — a quarter of the whole.
- How do you calculate a percentage of a number?
- Convert the percentage to a decimal and multiply. For 30% of 80: 0.30 × 80 = 24.
- How are percentages, fractions, and decimals related?
- They're three ways of writing the same value. 50% = ½ = 0.5; 25% = ¼ = 0.25. You can convert freely between them.