Fundamentals Of Calculating Percentages

Before jumping into calculating the percentage, we should know how to calculate the percentage. The process of weighing the tendency of value concerning the original value is the basic concept used to measure the percentage. It is widely used in many applications related to business when it comes to calculating the gross business profits and finding out the exact profit or loss made by the organisation.

Apart from being used in business organisations, it is widely used by exam boards, students and educational institutions. The percentage formula calculates the marks gained by the students. The basic definition of percentage is the ratio of any value compared to a whole value divided by 100.

Here, we will be exploring how to calculate percentage of marks in detail.

What is the meaning of the word percentage?

The word percentage is a  medium to express a number or a ratio indicated regarding fractions of 100. It is denoted by using the % symbol. The most common abbreviation used to denote percentage is “ pct “ or “ pc “. To put it another way, the percent or percentage is elucidated as how much of one quantity is made by the other quantity. It is then evaluated in affination to 100.

Percentage Formula

To calculate the percentage of a particular value, the formula needed for calculation is required. The formula used for calculating the percentage equals the ratio of real value to the complete value multiplied by 100.

The formula hence derived as

Percentage % is equal to the value obtained through (value/total value) x 100. There are some other important percentage formulas that are widely used and are as follows;

1.    Percentage change formula

o    Percent increase formula

o    Percent decrease formula

2.    Percent error formula

Description of the above Formulas

1. Percentage change formula

Change in % = (New value – Original Value) x 100

                                    Original value

Now, considering the above, there are two types of percentage changes:

  • Percentage Increase Formula: When the current or new value  is greater than the original value, then it shows that the percentage increase in the original number is related to change in the percentage, which can hence, be calculated as,

Increase in percentage ( % ) = Increase in value Original value x 100

So, we can conclude that,

Increase in value equals New value – Original Value.

  • Percentage decrease Formula: When the current value is found out to be less than the original value, then the percent decrease in the original number shows the change in percentage values, which is expressed by the formula shown below:

Decrease in percentage ( – % ) = Decrease in Value Original Value x 100

Hence,

Decrease in value = Original value – new value

Now, after checking the percentage increase and Decrease, we come to the Percentage Error Formula.

2. Percentage Error Formula

The percentage error formula is calculated by the following formula:

Percentage (%) error = (error x 100)/real value

For calculating the percentage of a number, normally, the numbers which get converted into percentages are given in two arrangements :

1.    The decimal form:  It is easier to find the percentage of the number already expressed in decimal form. To attain the percentage, we have to multiply the particular number by 100. For convenience, refer to an example, i.e., if the given number is 0.5, to convert it into a percentage, 0.5 * 100 = 50 %

2.    The fraction form: If the number is provided in the fractional format, it is advisable to convert the number into decimal value by dividing the upper value by the total value and multiplying it with 100.

Hence, it is easier to know the percentage of marks by using the Percentage formula.

Most common application

It is used in educational fields to find the percentages and in retail and wholesale businesses and various sectors worldwide to find out the rate of discounts offered.

Determination of Percentage of Marks

A number that is expressed as a fraction of 100 is called a percentage. Below, it is explained how to calculate the percentage of marks. Dividing marks gained in the examination with the maximum marks allotted and multiplying the result with 100 gives the exact percentage of the marks obtained. Let us find out How to Calculate the Percentage of Marks with the following examples.

The below example would further simplify:

Example 1:

If 956 is the total score gained in the examination from a question paper which counts 1000 marks as maximum, then by dividing 956 by 1000 and then by multiplying it by 100 gives the exact percentage:

So, the percentage of marks scored = 956/1000

Percentage = 0.956 x 100

Hence, the percentage of marks gained is 95.6%

Now, coming to the major difference between percentage and percentile. In nearly all cases, the majority of the people are mystified with percentage and percentile, unknowingly that the two are altogether dissimilar.

The benchmark to calculate the percentage and percentile are mentioned below:

1. Benchmark to calculate the percentage:

·         The marks obtained out of 100 represent the percentage.

·         Ratio or proportion can be used in writing the percentage

·         By multiplying the ratio of two numbers by 100, we gain a percentage

·         Ranking numbers do not decide the base of a percentage.

·         x% is used to denote the percentage obtained.

·         Only one case forms the base of a percentage.

2. Benchmark to calculate the percentile:

·         A number that is not out of 100 is termed a percentile.

·         A ratio or proportion cannot be used in writing a percentile.

·         A value of percentage that can be found out below a specific value is called a percentile.

·         Ranking numbers decide the base of a percentile.

·         Xth form is used to denote a percentile.

·         One case compared with the other forms the base of a percentile.

Example of calculating Percentage

Q. If there are 100 students in a school, out of which 50 are girls, find the percentage of girls in the school.

Solution:

Total number of students in school = 100

Number of girls in school = 50

Therefore, the percentage of girls in class in school = (50 x 100)/100 = 50 

So, the percentage of girls in the school is 50%.

Conclusion

Being able to calculate percentages can be a useful asset when you need to calculate your marks, find out the discount on a piece of clothing or calculate profits in business. So, learn this valuable concept and enhance your skills.

Author: 9TP

Admin is a professional blogger and digital marketer at 99techpost. She writes about Digital Marketing, Digital Transformation, Technology, WordPress, SEO, Web Design and Development . You can also follow us on facebook & twitter. Feel free to contact us if you have any queries.

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