How to find percentage of a number

Calculation of percentage is an interesting part in the world of mathematics and obvious in every math classes.

The percentage converter helps you with percent increase, decrease, differences, calculation and to figure out percentage. Get the help you need on finding the percentage here.

Find the percentage

To find the percentage of a number you start by dividing the first number with the second/whole number. Then you multiply the total by 100.

Annie lost 4 bottles of Coca Cola from a crate with a total of 24 bottles. What percentage of Coca Cola bottles were lost from the crate?

Eddie won 2 million dollars on a lottery. He had to give away 50.000 dollars of the prize. What percentage of the lottery prize did he have to give away?

Jamie bought 30 apples on the fruit market, and found out that 3 of them were rotten inside. What percentage of the apples were rotten?

Find the percentage change

To find the percentage change you start by multiplying the whole number with the percantage change. Then you divide the total by 100.

Jessie found a pair of jeans on sale that previously cost 100 dollars. The pair of jeans is reduced by 30 %. How much does Jessie save?

The prices on coffee increases with 5 % due to lack of suppliers. A bag of coffee previously costed 3.99 dollars. What is the new price?

A new batch of chocolate bars contains 15 % less sugar than the old batch. Each chocolate bar previously contained 23 grams of sugar. What is the amount of sugar in the new bars?

Find the whole number

To find the entire number you start by dividing the part of the whole number with the percentage. Then you multiply the total by 100.

30 % of the students in Mike’s class is vaccinated against swine flu. This adds up to a total of 15 students. How many students are in Mike’s class?

A text book about biology has a 25 % discount, which means a decline in price of 12 dollars. What was the original price?

7 % of the flights from an airport goes to New York. This adds up to a total of 49 flights per week. How many flights goes from this airport each day in total?

Percentage increase

Calculation of percentage increase:

To find the increase in percentage between two numbers, we start by subtracting the old/original number from the new number. This calculation gives us the difference between the two numbers.

We then devide the difference with the original number and multiply the total with 100 in order to find the increase in percentage.

( 25 / 500 ) x 100 = 5 %

The price on car insurance increases with 5 %.

A city’s population increases from 65 000 to 75 000 over a ten-year period. What is the increase in percentage?

(10 000 / 65 000) x 100 = 15,38 %

The city’s population increases with 15,38 %.

(78 000 / 27 000) x 100 = 288,89 %

Percentage decrease

Calculation of percentage decrease:

To find the decrease in percentage between two numbers, we start by subtracting the new number from the old/original number. This calculation gives us the difference between the two numbers.

We then divide the difference with the original number and multiply the total with 100 in order to find the decrease in percentage.

(7 000 / 32 000) * 100 = 21,88 %

Jessie’s car decreases 21,88 % in value.

(46 000 / 100 000) * 100 = 46 %

Your portfolio suffers from a 46 % decrease in value.

A school’s yearly number of law students decreases from 1200 to 1150 from one year to another, due to termination of teacher’s in order to save money. What is the decrease in law students measured in percentage?

(50 / 1200) * 100 = 4,17 %

About Find Percentage

Find Percentage started out as a project to help people calculate percentage in an easy way. We saw the need of a very user friendly calculation website, so we took it further and made even more calculators, e.g how to calculate BMI (body mass index), fat percentage, currencies and so on. We work hard to continuously make new helpful stuff that people find really useful in their daily life.

We would love to hear from you if you have any comments, ideas or suggestions for further development. Don’t hesitate to get in touch!

The website was started in 2012, and are a part of a larger website network under Mita Medias administration.

How to Find Percentage of a Number?

A percentage is defined as the proportion of a certain thing. It can be the proportion of a number, proportion of liquids, proportion of items, etc. In mathematics, it is represented as a fraction of a hundred or 1/100. The method of using percentage is very common in every field, such as tax percentage, discount percentage on products, percentage of humidity in the air, and percentage composition of substances in mixtures. Thus, knowledge of calculating percentages helps in mathematics and also helps in solving the percentage value of products and many items in day-to-day life.

Percentage of a Number

The percentage symbol is ‘%.’ It is also used to represent the average percentage of students in a class, data representation, profit percentage, loss percentage, interest, etc.

The range of percentages lies between 0 and 100. It can be 0.5%, 10%, 40%, 70%, 80%, 92%, 99%, and maximum up to 100%. 100% of a number is the same as the number.

Hence proved, that 100% of a number is the same as the number itself.

Note: Percentage equal to the number divided by 100

Thus, 20% is represented as a fraction of 20/100.

Suppose the percentage of a number N is to be calculated, it will be represented as:

P/100 × N

Or

(P × N)/100

P is the percent

N is the number

It is equal to 2

Thus, to find the percentage value of a number, we need to simply multiply the number with the percentage value and divide it by 100.

Steps to find the percentage of a number

Let’s consider an example to find 10% of 500.

Step 1: Substitute 1/100 instead of the % symbol

10 × 1/100 of 500

Step 2: Substitute multiply symbol (×) instead of ‘of’

Step 3: Solve the above-formed equation

= 50

Thus, 10% of 500 is 50.

Increase in the percentage of a number

10% increase of the number 50

The formula is given by:

Number + percentage of the same number

= 50 + 10 × 1/100× 50

Steps to find the increase in the percentage of a number

Example: Find15% increase of 200.

Step 1: Form an equation using the formula

The formula is given by:

Number + percentage of the same number

Step 2: Substitute 1/100 instead of the % symbol

Step 3: Substitute multiply symbol (×) instead of ‘of’

Step 4: Solve the above-formed equation

Step 4: Add the number

Thus, a 15% increase of 200 is 230.

Direct formula

(100 + increase percentage value)% × number

Decrease in percentage of a number

10% decrease of the number 50

The formula is given by:

Number – the percentage of the same number

= 50 – 10 × 1/100 × 50

Steps to find the increase in the percentage of a number

Example: Find a 45% decrease of 300.

Step 1: Form an equation using the formula

The formula is given by:

Number – the percentage of the same number

Step 2: Substitute 1/100 instead of the % symbol

Step 3: Substitute multiply symbol (×) instead of ‘of’

Step 4: Solve the above-formed equation

Step 5: Subtract the number

Thus, a 45% decrease of 300 is 165.

Direct formula

(100 – decrease percentage value)% × number

Sample Problems

Question 1: Find 20% of 80?

Solution:

Thus, 20% of 80 equals to 16.

Question 2: Find 50% of 200?

Solution:

Thus, 50% of 200 equals to 100.

Question 3: Find 10% of 50?

Solution:

Thus, 10% of 50 equals to 5.

Question 4: Find 0.5% of 5?

Solution:

Thus, 0.5% of 5 equals to 0.025.

Question 5: Find 80% of 600?

Solution:

Thus, 80% of 600 equals to 480.

Question 6: Find a 22% increase of 50.

Solution:

The formula to find the percentage increase of a number is given by:

(100 + increase percentage value)% × number

Question 7: Find 70% decrease of 150.

Solution:

The formula to find the percentage decrease of a number is given by:

(100 – decrease percentage value)% × number

How to Find Percentage
of Numbers

Welcome to our How to Find Percentage of numbers support page.

Here you will find information and a step-by-step guide to finding percentages of numbers.

How to Find Percentage

Percentage of Number Support Page

Below is a step-by-step guide to finding percentages of numbers.

At the bottom of this page you will also find two printable resource sheets which explain about how to calculate fractions in a little more detail.

We also have a percentage calculator so that you can check your answers.

Percentage Of Calculator Online

This calculator will help you to find a given percentage of a number.

Simply enter the percentage and the number.

The calculator will show you the answer, along with the working out!

How to find a Percentage of a number Support

Here are the 3 simple steps for finding a percentage of a number:

— Convert the percentage to a decimal by dividing it by 100.

— Multiply this decimal by the number you are finding the percentage of.

— Check your units of measurement.

You should have now found your percentage of a number!

Examples

We convert the percentage to a decimal by dividing by 100.

We need to multiply decimal by the number we are finding the percentage of.

Example 2) Find 17% of 160m.

Convert the percentage to a decimal by dividing by 100.

We need to multiply this decimal by our number.

Check units of measure.

Some Special Cases

The three simple steps above will quickly tell you how to find the percentage of any number.

However, there are some special cases which quicker and easier to work out.

50% is the same as the fraction ½

To find 25% of a number, quarter it (or divide by 4).

25% is the same as one-fourth or one-quarter

To find 75% of a number, quarter it then multiply by 3.

75% is the same as three-fourths or three-quarters.

To find 10% of a number, divide it by 10!

10% is the same as one-tenth.

To find a multiple of 10%, like 30% or 70% of a number, just divide by 10 and multiply by the numbers of tens you have.

To find 30%, you divide by 10 and multiply by 3.

To find 70%, divide by 10 and multiply by 7.

Examples

Example 1) Find 50% of 28.

To find 50%, we just halve the number.

Half of 28 is 14.

To find 25% of a number, we quarter it (or divide it by 4).

Example 3) Find 75% of 20 miles.

To find 75% of a number, we quarter it then multiply by 3.

Answer: 15 miles

Example 4) Find 10% of 5km.

To find 10% of a number, divide it by 10.

Answer: 0.5km or 500m

Example 5) Find 60% of 40 gallons.

To find 60%, we divide by 10 and multiply by 6.

Answer: 24 gallons

How to find percentage of a number printable support page

This printable support sheet below gives you the basic information on this page along with some worked examples.

It has been produced in a clear easy-to-print format.

More Recommended Math Worksheets

Take a look at some more of our worksheets similar to these.

Percentage of a number worksheets

If you are looking for some worksheets to test your knowledge then look no further.

Our Percentage of a number and percentage of money worksheets involve finding a range of percentages of different numbers and amounts.

The sheets have been carefully graded into different levels of difficulty so that you can select the right level for your child.

Percentage Word Problems

Test out your skill and application of percentages by solving some of our percentage word problems.

The word problems are carefully graded and each word problem sheets comes in different levels of difficulty.

How can I work out the percentage increase (or decrease)?

Take a look at our How to Work Out Percentage Increase/Decrease page.

This page is all about finding the percentage increase or decrease between two numbers.

We also have a percentage increase calculator that will work it all out for you at the click of a button.

How can I a reverse percentage?

A reverse percentage is when you know the final amount and the percentage increase or decrease, and you want to know what the original amount was.

Our reverse percentage calculator will calculate what the original amount was in a percentage problem.

Online Percentage Practice Zone

Our online percentage practice zone gives you a chance to practice finding percentages of a range of numbers.

You can choose your level of difficulty and test yourself with immediate feedback!

How to Print or Save these sheets

Need help with printing or saving?
Follow these 3 easy steps to get your worksheets printed out perfectly!

How to Print or Save these sheets

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Follow these 3 easy steps to get your worksheets printed out perfectly!

Math-Salamanders.com

The Math Salamanders hope you enjoy using these free printable Math worksheets and all our other Math games and resources.

We welcome any comments about our site or worksheets on the Facebook comments box at the bottom of every page.

How to Calculate Percentages of Numbers

Percentage of a Number Calculator

Enter the percentage and the amount that you wish to calculate the percentage of:

How to Calculate a Percentage of any Number

Rules to Find Simple Percentages

Finding Percentages of Amounts Without a Calculator

Finding Decimal Percentages of Amounts

Finding Multiples of 10%: Interactive Activity

Finding Percentages of a Number: Interactive Activity

Decimal Percentages of a Number: Interactive Activity

Calculating Percentages of Amounts Worksheets and Answers

Decimal Percentages Worksheets and Answers

Finding Multiples of 10%

Calculating Percentages

How to Calculate Percentages of Numbers

To calculate a percentage of a number, multiply the number by the percentage and then divide by 100. Do not write a percentage sign in your answer. For example, to find 31% of 94, multiply 94 by 31 and then divide by 100. 94 × 31 ÷ 100 = 29.14.

The word ‘percent’ means to divide by 100. This is because ‘per’ means divide and ‘cent’ means 100.

In maths, the word ‘of’ means to multiply.

So to find a percentage of a number, we multiply them and also divide by 100.

Here is an example of calculating 19% of 55.

To find a percentage of a number, multiply the percentage by the number and then divide by 100.

To find 19% of 55, multiply 19 and 55, then divide by 100.

55 × 19 ÷ 100 = 10.45. Therefore 19% of 55 = 10.45.

This method of finding percentages is best done on a calculator.

How to Calculate a Percentage with a Calculator

If your calculator has a % key, simply type the percentage followed by the % key and multiply this by the number. If there is no % key on the calculator, multiply the percentage value and the number together but then divide by 100.

Here is an example of finding percentages with a calculator. What is 34.7% of 125?

We multiply 125 by 34.7 and then divide by 100.

125 × 34.7 ÷ 100 = 43.375. Therefore 34.7% of 125 = 43.375.

Alternatively, if your calculator has a % button, then we type the following:

34.7% × 125 = 43.375. We do not need to divide by 100 if we have used the % button on the calculator because the % sign does this for us.

The easiest way to find a percentage of a number is to use a calculator. This is because most percentage calculations involve performing a multiplication that is not easy to do without writing down working out.

Formula to Calculate a Percentage of a Number

The formula to calculate the percentage of a number is Number × Percentage ÷ 100 = Answer. For example, calculating 48% of 64.6, using the formula is 64.6 × 48 ÷ 100 = 31.008.

The number is 64.6, the percentage required is 48.

We multiply the two values and then divide by 100.

64.6 × 48 ÷ 100 = 31.008 and so 48% of 64.6 is 31.008.

Here is another example of finding a percentage of an amount using the formula.

What is 208% of 700?

Even though the percentage is larger than 100, the rule still applies. The formula can still be used in the same way.

The formula to find a percentage of an amount is Number × Percentage ÷ 100 = Answer.

The number is 700 and the percentage is 208.

700 × 208 ÷ 100 = 1456 and so, 208% of 700 = 1456.

The formula of Number × Percentage ÷ 100 = Answer is a good way to find a percentage of an amount when a calculator is available and the numbers involved are larger or contain decimals.

Some percentages are easier to find and can be worked out mentally. These are known as simple percentages.

Rules to Find Simple Percentages

The following table shows the rules used to find basic percentages of amounts:

For example, to find 50% of a number, simply divide it by 2.

50% of 60 means 60 ÷ 2.

60 ÷ 2 = 30 and so, 50% of 60 is 30.

Here is another example of using the rules of finding simple percentages. We are asked to find 25% of 600.

To find 25% of a number, divide it by 4.

We can divide by 4 by halving and halving again. Half of 600 is 300 and then half of 300 is 150.

25% of 600 is 150.

The rules to find basic percentages of amounts allow us to find percentages without using a calculator. When introducing percentages, it is worth learning the rules to find simple percentages before trying to find more complicated examples.

Here is a downloadable poster showing some of the ways to find simple percentages:

Here is a list of the rules for finding basic percentages:

Finding Multiples of 10%

To find multiples of ten percent, use the following rules:

We can use these rules to find any multiple of 10 percent.

For example, in this question we are asked, what is 20% of 40?

To find 20%, first find 10% and then double it.

To find 10%, divide by 10.

The next step is to double 10% to find 20%.

How to Calculate a Percentage of a Number without a Calculator

To calculate a percentage of a number without a calculator, follow these steps:

We will start by finding a whole number percentage of an amount. In this example we will find 15% of 40 without a calculator.

The first step is to separate 15% into its tens and ones. 15% = 10% + 5%.

To find 10%, divide by 10. 40 ÷ 10 = 4 and so, 10% of 40 is 4.

To find 5%, divide by 20. 40 ÷ 20 = 2. Alternatively, we can find half of 10%. 5% of 40 is 2.

The final step is to add 10% and 5% to make 15%. 4 + 2 = 6, therefore 15% of 40 is 6.

Here is another example of finding any percentage of a number.

What is 35% of 220?

The first step is to split 35% into 30% and 5%.

To find 30%, divide by 10 to get 10% and then multiply by 3 to get 30%.

To find 5%, divide by 100 to get 1% and then multiply by 5 to get 5%.

Alternatively, 5% is half of 10%. 10% of 220 is 22 and so, 5% of 220 is 11.

The final step is to add the results of 5% and 30% together to find 35%.

30% is 66 and 5% is 11. 66 + 11 = 77 and so, 35% of 220 = 77.

Here is an example of finding a percentage of an amount. What is 12% of 200?

The first step is to write 12% as 10% + 2%.

To find 10%, simply divide the number by 10.

To find 2%, find 1% and double it.

To find 1%, divide the number by 100.

200 ÷ 10 = 20 and so, 10% of 200 is 20.

200 ÷ 100 = 2 and so 1% of 200 is 2.

Double 1% to find 2%. 2 × 2 = 4 and so 2% of 200 is 4.

The final step is to add 2% and 10% to find 12%.

20 + 4 = 24, therefore 12% of 200 = 24.

In this next example of finding a percentage without a calculator, we have 83% of 1200.

We separate 83% into 80% and 3%

To find 80%, find 10% and multiply it by 8.

To find 3%, find 1% and multiply is by 3.

1200 ÷ 10 = 120 and so, 10% = 120.

80% = 10% × 8 and so, 80% is 120 × 8. 120 × 8 = 960.

1200 ÷ 100 = 12 and so, 1% = 12.

3% = 1% × 3 and so, 3% is 12 × 3. 12 × 3 = 36.

The final step is to add the results together. 80% + 3% = 83%.

80% = 960 and 3% = 36, therefore 960 + 36 = 996.

83% of 1200 = 996

When teaching finding percentages of numbers, it is useful to write down the values of all new percentages found as part of the working out. For example, if you have already found 10%, then write this down because we simply need to double it if we need 20% or halve it if we need 5%.

Examples of Calculating Percentages of Numbers

Here are some further examples of calculating percentages of numbers. In these questions, we will work out the percentages without a calculator.

We will work out how to find the percentage of an amount using examples containing decimal percentages.

What is 23.1% of 2000?

Firstly, separate 23.1% into 20% + 3% + 0.1%.

10% is found by dividing the number by 10. 10% = 200.

20% is double 10%. 20% = 400.

1% is found by dividing the number by 100. 1% = 20.

3% is three times 1%. 3% = 60.

0.1% is found by dividing the number by 1000. 0.1% = 2.

We can add up 20% + 3% + 0.1% to find 23.1%.

400 + 60 + 2 = 462 and so 23.1% of 2000 = 462.

In this next question, we will find a decimal percentage of an amount of money.

What is 47.2% of 400?

To find 47.2%, add 40%, 7% and 0.2%.

To find 10%, divide by 400 by 10. 10% of 400 is 40. To find 40%, multiply 10% by 4. 40% = 160.

To find 1%, divide 400 by 100. 1% of 400 is 4. To find 7%, multiply 1% by 7. 7% = 28.

To find 0.1%, divide 400 by 1000. 0.1% of 400 is 0.4. To find 0.2%, multiply 0.1% by 2. 0.2% = 0.8.

We add 40%, 7% and 0.2% to find 47.2%.

160 + 28 + 0.8 = 188.8. Therefore 47.2% of £400 = £188.80. We write two decimal places with answers involving money.

Here is a question involving finding a percentage of an amount of money in dollars.

We split 84.5% into 80% + 4% + 0.5%.

10% = 120. We multiply this by 8 to get 80%. 80% = 960.

1% = 12. We multiply this by 4 to get 4%. 4% = 48.

0.1% = 1.2. We multiply this by 5 to get 0.5%. 0.5% = 6. We can also see that 0.5% is half of 1%. 1% = 12 and so, 0.5% is half of 12, which is 6.

Finally, we add 80% + 4% + 0.5% to get 84.5%.

Now try our lesson on How to Calculate Percentage Increase and Decrease where we learn how to find percentage increase and decrease.

Calculation of percentage is an interesting part in the world of mathematics and obvious in every math classes.

The percentage converter helps you with percent increase, decrease, differences, calculation and to figure out percentage. Get the help you need on finding the percentage here.

Find the percentage

To find the percentage of a number you start by dividing the first number with the second/whole number. Then you multiply the total by 100.

Annie lost 4 bottles of Coca Cola from a crate with a total of 24 bottles. What percentage of Coca Cola bottles were lost from the crate?

Eddie won 2 million dollars on a lottery. He had to give away 50.000 dollars of the prize. What percentage of the lottery prize did he have to give away?

Jamie bought 30 apples on the fruit market, and found out that 3 of them were rotten inside. What percentage of the apples were rotten?

Find the percentage change

To find the percentage change you start by multiplying the whole number with the percantage change. Then you divide the total by 100.

Jessie found a pair of jeans on sale that previously cost 100 dollars. The pair of jeans is reduced by 30 %. How much does Jessie save?

The prices on coffee increases with 5 % due to lack of suppliers. A bag of coffee previously costed 3.99 dollars. What is the new price?

A new batch of chocolate bars contains 15 % less sugar than the old batch. Each chocolate bar previously contained 23 grams of sugar. What is the amount of sugar in the new bars?

Find the whole number

To find the entire number you start by dividing the part of the whole number with the percentage. Then you multiply the total by 100.

30 % of the students in Mike’s class is vaccinated against swine flu. This adds up to a total of 15 students. How many students are in Mike’s class?

A text book about biology has a 25 % discount, which means a decline in price of 12 dollars. What was the original price?

7 % of the flights from an airport goes to New York. This adds up to a total of 49 flights per week. How many flights goes from this airport each day in total?

Percentage increase

Calculation of percentage increase:

To find the increase in percentage between two numbers, we start by subtracting the old/original number from the new number. This calculation gives us the difference between the two numbers.

We then devide the difference with the original number and multiply the total with 100 in order to find the increase in percentage.

( 25 / 500 ) x 100 = 5 %

The price on car insurance increases with 5 %.

A city’s population increases from 65 000 to 75 000 over a ten-year period. What is the increase in percentage?

(10 000 / 65 000) x 100 = 15,38 %

The city’s population increases with 15,38 %.

(78 000 / 27 000) x 100 = 288,89 %

Percentage decrease

Calculation of percentage decrease:

To find the decrease in percentage between two numbers, we start by subtracting the new number from the old/original number. This calculation gives us the difference between the two numbers.

We then divide the difference with the original number and multiply the total with 100 in order to find the decrease in percentage.

(7 000 / 32 000) * 100 = 21,88 %

Jessie’s car decreases 21,88 % in value.

(46 000 / 100 000) * 100 = 46 %

Your portfolio suffers from a 46 % decrease in value.

A school’s yearly number of law students decreases from 1200 to 1150 from one year to another, due to termination of teacher’s in order to save money. What is the decrease in law students measured in percentage?

(50 / 1200) * 100 = 4,17 %

About Find Percentage

Find Percentage started out as a project to help people calculate percentage in an easy way. We saw the need of a very user friendly calculation website, so we took it further and made even more calculators, e.g how to calculate BMI (body mass index), fat percentage, currencies and so on. We work hard to continuously make new helpful stuff that people find really useful in their daily life.

We would love to hear from you if you have any comments, ideas or suggestions for further development. Don’t hesitate to get in touch!

The website was started in 2012, and are a part of a larger website network under Mita Medias administration.