In this lesson, you
will learn
that a percent that is less than 1%
or greater than 100%
can be expressed as a decimal or as a fraction.
Because "percent" means "out of, or per 100", a percent which
is less than 1% is a quantity which is less than 1 out of
100.
.068%
.02%
.119%
A percent that is greater than 100% is a
quantity which is greater than 100 out of 100 or,
in other words greater than 1.
110%
225%
671%
To write these percents as decimals all that we need to do
is move the decimal point 2 places to the left.
.068%
.00068
Original Percent
Decimal Number
Fraction
.23%
.0023
.077%
77/100000
503%
5.03
9.01
9 1/100
For example:
Let's look at a percent which is less than 1....
0.5%
Write 0.5% as a decimal and as a fraction:
0.5% = 0.005
Again, since percent means per 100, you can change a percent
to a fraction by simply putting the percent over 100:
0.5% = .5/100
Remember, we cannot leave a decimal in the numerator so we
must rewrite it as a whole number. To do that simply
move the decimal as many places to the right as required to
make it a whole number, then add as many zeros, as places
moved, to 100 in the denominator
.5/100 = 5/1000 (add 1 zero to 100) The final step is to reduce the fraction to lowest
terms: 5/1000 = 1/200
Another Example ....
Now let's look at a percent which is greater than 100...
130%
Write 130% first as a decimal..
130% = 1.30 or 1.3
If we change it to a fraction it becomes 1 3/10
Since the fraction 3/10 cannot be reduced our final answer
is 1 3/10
Now let's try some problems using percents which are less
than 1% or greater than 100%.
Let's
look at another....
Mr. Smith's salary has increased by 350% over the past 20
years. If his original salary was $22,000 per year,
what is his current salary?
First change 350% to a decimal:
350% = 3.5
Next, multiply the original salary by the decimal number:
(22000) x (3.5) =
77000
After 20 years Mr. Smith's salary has increased from $22,000
to $77,000 per year.
One more...
In a survey of 5000 people only .3% of them said that all of
their wishes had come true. How many people in this
sample does that represent?
First change the percent to a decimal:
.3% = .003
Then multiply the number of people by the decimal:
(5000) x (.003) =
15
Only 15 of the 5000 people surveyed had had all of their
wishes come true.
