Introduction to Percentages (Edexcel GCSE Maths): Revision Note

Naomi C

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Naomi C

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Introduction to Percentages

What is a percentage?

  • “Per-cent” simply means “out of 100” (or “ ÷ 100”)

  • Rewriting fractions as percentages means they can be compared more easily

  • You can do this by finding an equivalent fraction with a denominator of 100

    • 1 half equals 50 over 100 equals 50 percent sign

    • 2 over 5 equals 40 over 100 equals 40 percent sign

    • 3 over 4 equals 75 over 100 equals 75 percent sign

    • The three percentages are much easier to compare than the three fractions

  • Percentages are also equivalent to decimals

    • table row cell 100 percent sign end cell equals 1 row cell 10 percent sign end cell equals cell 0.1 end cell row cell 1 percent sign end cell equals cell 0.01 end cell row cell 0.1 percent sign end cell equals cell 0.001 end cell end table

  • table row cell 25 percent sign end cell equals cell 0.25 end cell row cell 2.5 percent sign end cell equals cell 0.025 end cell row cell 0.25 percent sign end cell equals cell 0.0025 end cell end table

  • Notice that a decimal can be converted to a percentage by multiplying by 100

    • Therefore a percentage can be converted to a decimal by dividing by 100

  • A fraction can be written as a percentage by finding the decimal equivalent

    • You could use your calculator to do this

    • e.g. 234 over 650 equals 234 divided by 650 equals 0.36 equals 36 percent sign

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Naomi C

Author: Naomi C

Expertise: Maths

Naomi graduated from Durham University in 2007 with a Masters degree in Civil Engineering. She has taught Mathematics in the UK, Malaysia and Switzerland covering GCSE, IGCSE, A-Level and IB. She particularly enjoys applying Mathematics to real life and endeavours to bring creativity to the content she creates.