Percentages are used in every day life a lot. When you hear sales on Television or Radio that say, "20% off" Do you ever wonder what they mean?
Percentages are very closely related to fractions. Just like a fraction, a percentage is a portion of the whole. Fractions and decimals are so closely related that 1/5 is equal to 20%, 1/2 is equal to 50% and 1/4 is equal to 25%. For every fraction there is an equal percentage.
Let’s say something that costs $100 is 20% off. First you have to convert your percentage to a decimal, which is simple. If it’s a 2-digit number, or more, just put a decimal point on the left side. If it’s a 1-digit number put a zero on the left side of that number, and then you have your 2-digit number, you can now change it to a decimal. Now that you’ve turned your percentage into a decimal, multiply it by the other number. The other number in this case would be $100. Once you have multiplied it (to see how to multiply decimals please go to the Decimals Page) and gotten your answer, the answer being 20.00. Now subtract whatever you got from the price number (in this case $100). Now you have you’re answer, which is $80.
Harder Stuff
Sometimes you’ll want to know a problem like what 13% of 14 is. This is an entirely different kind of problem. First you have to convert your percentage to a decimal, which is simple enough, if its a single whole number just put a decimal point on the left side of the number. If its a single number put a zero on the left side of the number and then put a decimal point on the left side of that zero. This will turn 13% into .13. Next, you multiply the 2 numbers together. To learn how to do this, go to the Decimals Page. You’re answer would be 1.82. You can round it off if you want. Another thing about percentages is how to convert fractions to percentages. If you have easy fractions it will be much easier. Let’s say you have 1/4 and you want to convert it to a percentage. I’ll show you how. Do the bottom of this problem first.
1 -> take the number that you got below and multiply it by 1. Now you have your answer

4 -> what times 4 equals 100 the answer is 25.

The reason why you would multiply the number you got on the bottom of the fraction by 1, is because 1 is the numerator. If the numerator is not 1 than you would multiply it by that number. Say the numerator was 56 than you would multiply it by 56 instead of 1. If the number on the bottom of the fraction is not four, let’s say it’s 5, then you would say, what multiplied by 5 is 100. The answer would be 25. If the number on the bottom was 6, then you have problem. What multiplied by 6 equals 100? mmmmmmmm, doesn’t really work does it. If you want to learn how to get an answer for that equation.