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Unit 3: Lesson 3
Solving percent problems.
- Percent word problem: magic club
- Percent word problems: tax and discount
- Percent word problem: guavas
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Video transcript
Solving Percent Problems
Learning Objective(s)
· Identify the amount, the base, and the percent in a percent problem.
· Find the unknown in a percent problem.
Introduction
Percents are a ratio of a number and 100. So they are easier to compare than fractions, as they always have the same denominator, 100. A store may have a 10% off sale. The amount saved is always the same portion or fraction of the price, but a higher price means more money is taken off. Interest rates on a saving account work in the same way. The more money you put in your account, the more money you get in interest. It’s helpful to understand how these percents are calculated.
Parts of a Percent Problem
Jeff has a coupon at the Guitar Store for 15% off any purchase of $100 or more. He wants to buy a used guitar that has a price tag of $220 on it. Jeff wonders how much money the coupon will take off the original $220 price.
Problems involving percents have any three quantities to work with: the percent , the amount , and the base .
The percent has the percent symbol (%) or the word “percent.” In the problem above, 15% is the percent off the purchase price.
The base is the whole amount. In the problem above, the whole price of the guitar is $220, which is the base.
The amount is the number that relates to the percent. It is always part of the whole. In the problem above, the amount is unknown. Since the percent is the percent off , the amount will be the amount off of the price .
You will return to this problem a bit later. The following examples show how to identify the three parts, the percent, the base, and the amount.
The previous problem states that 30 is a portion of another number. That means 30 is the amount. Note that this problem could be rewritten: 20% of what number is 30?
Solving with Equations
Percent problems can be solved by writing equations. An equation uses an equal sign (= ) to show that two mathematical expressions have the same value.
Percents are fractions, and just like fractions, when finding a percent (or fraction, or portion) of another amount, you multiply.
The percent of the base is the amount.
Percent of the Base is the Amount.
Percent · Base = Amount
Once you have an equation, you can solve it and find the unknown value. To do this, think about the relationship between multiplication and division. Look at the pairs of multiplication and division facts below, and look for a pattern in each row.
Multiplication and division are inverse operations. What one does to a number, the other “undoes.”
When you have an equation such as 20% · n = 30, you can divide 30 by 20% to find the unknown: n = 30 ÷ 20%.
You can solve this by writing the percent as a decimal or fraction and then dividing.
n = 30 ÷ 20% = 30 ÷ 0.20 = 150
You can estimate to see if the answer is reasonable. Use 10% and 20%, numbers close to 12.5%, to see if they get you close to the answer.
10% of 72 = 0.1 · 72 = 7.2
20% of 72 = 0.2 · 72 = 14.4
Notice that 9 is between 7.2 and 14.4, so 12.5% is reasonable since it is between 10% and 20%.
This problem is a little easier to estimate. 100% of 24 is 24. And 110% is a little bit more than 24. So, 26.4 is a reasonable answer.
Using Proportions to Solve Percent Problems
Let’s go back to the problem that was posed at the beginning. You can now solve this problem as shown in the following example.
You can estimate to see if the answer is reasonable. Since 15% is half way between 10% and 20%, find these numbers.
10% of 220 = 0.1 · 220 = 22
20% of 220 = 0.2 · 220 = 44
The answer, 33, is between 22 and 44. So $33 seems reasonable.
There are many other situations that involve percents. Below are just a few.
A free service from Mattecentrum
Solving problems with percentages
- Price difference I
- Price difference II
- How many students?
To solve problems with percent we use the percent proportion shown in "Proportions and percent".
$$\frac{a}{b}=\frac{x}{100}$$
$$\frac{a}{{\color{red} {b}}}\cdot {\color{red} {b}}=\frac{x}{100}\cdot b$$
$$a=\frac{x}{100}\cdot b$$
x/100 is called the rate.
$$a=r\cdot b\Rightarrow Percent=Rate\cdot Base$$
Where the base is the original value and the percentage is the new value.
47% of the students in a class of 34 students has glasses or contacts. How many students in the class have either glasses or contacts?
$$a=r\cdot b$$
$$47\%=0.47a$$
$$=0.47\cdot 34$$
$$a=15.98\approx 16$$
16 of the students wear either glasses or contacts.
We often get reports about how much something has increased or decreased as a percent of change. The percent of change tells us how much something has changed in comparison to the original number. There are two different methods that we can use to find the percent of change.
The Mathplanet school has increased its student body from 150 students to 240 from last year. How big is the increase in percent?
We begin by subtracting the smaller number (the old value) from the greater number (the new value) to find the amount of change.
$$240-150=90$$
Then we find out how many percent this change corresponds to when compared to the original number of students
$$90=r\cdot 150$$
$$\frac{90}{150}=r$$
$$0.6=r= 60\%$$
We begin by finding the ratio between the old value (the original value) and the new value
$$percent\:of\:change=\frac{new\:value}{old\:value}=\frac{240}{150}=1.6$$
As you might remember 100% = 1. Since we have a percent of change that is bigger than 1 we know that we have an increase. To find out how big of an increase we've got we subtract 1 from 1.6.
$$1.6-1=0.6$$
$$0.6=60\%$$
As you can see both methods gave us the same answer which is that the student body has increased by 60%
Video lessons
A skirt cost $35 regulary in a shop. At a sale the price of the skirtreduces with 30%. How much will the skirt cost after the discount?
Solve "54 is 25% of what number?"
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Word Problems on Percentage
Word problems on percentage will help us to solve various types of problems related to percentage. Follow the procedure to solve similar type of percent problems.
Word problems on percentage:
1. In an exam Ashley secured 332 marks. If she secured 83 % makes, find the maximum marks.
Let the maximum marks be m.
Ashley’s marks = 83% of m
Ashley secured 332 marks
Therefore, 83% of m = 332
⇒ 83/100 × m = 332
⇒ m = (332 × 100)/83
⇒ m =33200/83
Therefore, Ashley got 332 marks out of 400 marks.
2. An alloy contains 26 % of copper. What quantity of alloy is required to get 260 g of copper?
Let the quantity of alloy required = m g
Then 26 % of m =260 g
⇒ 26/100 × m = 260 g
⇒ m = (260 × 100)/26 g
⇒ m = 26000/26 g
⇒ m = 1000 g
3. There are 50 students in a class. If 14% are absent on a particular day, find the number of students present in the class.
Solution:
Number of students absent on a particular day = 14 % of 50
i.e., 14/100 × 50 = 7
Therefore, the number of students present = 50 - 7 = 43 students.
4. In a basket of apples, 12% of them are rotten and 66 are in good condition. Find the total number of apples in the basket.
Solution:
Let the total number of apples in the basket be m
12 % of the apples are rotten, and apples in good condition are 66
Therefore, according to the question,
88% of m = 66
⟹ 88/100 × m = 66
⟹ m = (66 × 100)/88
⟹ m = 3 × 25
Therefore, total number of apples in the basket is 75.
5. In an examination, 300 students appeared. Out of these students; 28 % got first division, 54 % got second division and the remaining just passed. Assuming that no student failed; find the number of students who just passed.
The number of students with first division = 28 % of 300
= 28/100 × 300
= 8400/100
= 84
And, the number of students with second division = 54 % of 300
= 54/100 × 300
=16200/100
= 162
Therefore, the number of students who just passed = 300 – (84 + 162)
= 54
Questions and Answers on Word Problems on Percentage:
1. In a class 60% of the students are girls. If the total number of students is 30, what is the number of boys?
2. Emma scores 72 marks out of 80 in her English exam. Convert her marks into percent.
Answer: 90%
3. Mason was able to sell 35% of his vegetables before noon. If Mason had 200 kg of vegetables in the morning, how many grams of vegetables was he able to see by noon?
Answer: 70 kg
4. Alexander was able to cover 25% of 150 km journey in the morning. What percent of journey is still left to be covered?
Answer: 112.5 km
5. A cow gives 24 l milk each day. If the milkman sells 75% of the milk, how many liters of milk is left with him?
Answer: 6 l

6. While shopping Grace spent 90% of the money she had. If she had $ 4500 on shopping, what was the amount of money she spent?
Answer: $ 4050
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How to Solve Percent Problems
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Solve simple percent problems.
Finding 100% of a number: Remember that 100% means the whole thing, so 100% of any number is simply the number itself:
100% of 5 is 5
100% of 91 is 91
100% of 732 is 732
Finding 50% of a number: Remember that 50% means half, so to find 50% of a number, just divide it by 2:
50% of 20 is 10
50% of 88 is 44

Finding 25% of a number: Remember that 25% equals 1/4, so to find 25% of a number, divide it by 4:
25% of 40 is 10
25% of 88 is 22

Finding 20% of a number: Finding 20% of a number is handy if you like the service you’ve received in a restaurant, because a good tip is 20% of the check. Because 20% equals 1/5, you can find 20% of a number by dividing it by 5. But you can use an easier way:
To find 20% of a number, move the decimal point one place to the left and double the result:
20% of 80 = 8 2 = 16
20% of 300 = 30 2 = 60
20% of 41 = 4.1 2 = 8.2
Finding 10% of a number: Finding 10% of any number is the same as finding 1/10 of that number. To do this, just move the decimal point one place to the left:
10% of 30 is 3
10% of 41 is 4.1
10% of 7 is 0.7
Finding 200%, 300%, and so on of a number: Working with percents that are multiples of 100 is easy. Just drop the two 0s and multiply by the number that’s left:
200% of 7 = 2 7 = 14
300% of 10 = 3 10 = 30
1,000% of 45 = 10 45 = 450
Make tough-looking percent problems easy
Suppose someone wants you to figure out the following:
Finding 88% of anything isn’t an activity that anybody looks forward to. But an easy way of solving the problem is to switch it around:
88% of 50 = 50% of 88
This move is perfectly valid, and it makes the problem a lot easier. As you learned above, 50% of 88 is simply half of 88:
88% of 50 = 50% of 88 = 44
As another example, suppose you want to find
Again, finding 7% is tricky, but finding 200% is simple, so switch the problem around:
7% of 200 = 200% of 7
Above, you learned that to find 200% of any number, you just multiply that number by 2:
7% of 200 = 200% of 7 = 2 7 = 14
Solve more-difficult percent problems
35% of 80 = ?
Ouch — this time, the numbers you’re working with aren’t so friendly. When the numbers in a percent problem become a little more difficult, the tricks no longer work, so you want to know how to solve all percent problems.
Here’s how to find any percent of any number:
Change the word of to a multiplication sign and the percent to a decimal.
Changing the word of to a multiplication sign is a simple example of turning words into numbers. This change turns something unfamiliar into a form that you know how to work with.
So, to find 35% of 80, you would rewrite it as:
35% of 80 = 0.35 80
Solve the problem using decimal multiplication.
Here’s what the example looks like:

So 35% of 80 is 28.
12% of 31 = 0.12 31
Now you can solve the problem with decimal multiplication:

So 12% of 31 is 3.72.
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Module 1: Whole Numbers, Fractions, Decimals, Percents and Problem Solving
Solving problems using percents, learning outcome.
- Evaluate expressions and word problems involving percents
In this section we will solve percent questions by identifying the parts of the problem. We’ll look at a common application of percent—tips to a server at a restaurant—to see how to set up a basic percent application.
When Aolani and her friends ate dinner at a restaurant, the bill came to [latex]\text{\$80}[/latex]. They wanted to leave a [latex]20\%[/latex] tip. What amount would the tip be?
To solve this, we want to find what amount is [latex]20\%[/latex] of [latex]\$80[/latex]. The [latex]\$80[/latex] is called the base . The percent is the given [latex]20\%[/latex]. The amount of the tip would be [latex]0.20(80)[/latex], or [latex]\$16[/latex] — see the image below. To find the amount of the tip, we multiplied the percent by the base.
A [latex]20\%[/latex] tip for an [latex]\$80[/latex] restaurant bill comes out to [latex]\$16[/latex].
Pieces of a Percent Problem
Percent problems involve three quantities: the base amount (the whole), the percent , and the amount (a part of the whole or partial amount).
The amount is a percent of the base.
Let’s look at another example:
Jeff has a Guitar Strings coupon for [latex]15\%[/latex] off any purchase of [latex]$100[/latex] or more. He wants to buy a used guitar that has a price tag of [latex]$220[/latex] on it. Jeff wonders how much money the coupon will take off the original [latex]$220[/latex] price. Problems involving percents will have some combination of these three quantities to work with: the percent , the amount , and the base . The percent has the percent symbol (%) or the word percent. In the problem above, [latex]15\%[/latex] is the percent off the purchase price. The base is the whole amount or original amount. In the problem above, the “whole” price of the guitar is [latex]$220[/latex], which is the base. The amount is the unknown and what we will need to calculate.
There are thee cases: a missing amount, a missing percent or a missing base. Let’s take a look at each possibility.
Solving for the Amount
When solving for the amount in a percent problem, you will multiply the percent (as a decimal or fraction) by the base. Typically we choose the decimal value for percent.
[latex]\text{percent}\cdot{\text{base}}=\text{amount}[/latex]
Find [latex]50\%[/latex] of [latex]20[/latex]
First identify each piece of the problem:
percent: [latex]50\%[/latex] or [latex].5[/latex]
base: [latex]20[/latex]
amount: unknown
Now plug them into your equation [latex]\text{percent}\cdot{\text{base}}=\text{amount}[/latex]
[latex].5\cdot{20}= ?[/latex]
[latex].5\cdot{20}= 10[/latex]
Therefore, [latex]10[/latex] is the amount or part that is [latex]50\%[/latex] of [latex]20[/latex].
What is [latex]25\%[/latex] of [latex]80[/latex]?
The base is [latex]80[/latex] and the percent is [latex]25\%[/latex], so amount [latex]= 80(0.25) = 20[/latex]
Solving for the Percent
When solving for the percent in a percent problem, you will divide the amount by the base. The equation above is rearranged and the percent will come back as a decimal of fraction you can report in the form asked of you.
[latex]\Large{\frac{\text{amount}}{\text{base}}}\normalsize=\text{percent}[/latex]
What percent of [latex]320[/latex] is [latex]80[/latex]?
percent: unknown
base: [latex]320[/latex]
amount: [latex]80[/latex]
Now plug the values into your equation [latex]\Large{\frac{\text{amount}}{\text{base}}}\normalsize=\text{percent}[/latex]
[latex]\large\frac{80}{320}\normalsize=?[/latex]
[latex]\large\frac{80}{320}\normalsize=.25[/latex]
Therefore, [latex]80[/latex] is [latex]25\%[/latex] of [latex]320[/latex].
Solving for the Base
When solving for the base in a percent problem, you will divide the amount by the percent (as a decimal or fraction). The equation above is rearranged and you will find the base after plugging in the values.
[latex]\Large{\frac{\text{amount}}{\text{percent}}}\normalsize=\text{base}[/latex]
[latex]60[/latex] is [latex]40\%[/latex] of what number?
percent:[latex]40\%[/latex] or [latex].4[/latex]
base: unknown
amount: [latex]60[/latex]
Now plug the values into your equation [latex]\Large{\frac{\text{amount}}{\text{percent}}}\normalsize=\text{base}[/latex]
[latex](60)\div(.4)=?[/latex]
[latex](60)\div(.4)=150[/latex]
Therefore, [latex]60[/latex] is [latex]40\%[/latex] of [latex]150[/latex].
An article says that [latex]15\%[/latex] of a non-profit’s donations, about [latex]$30,000[/latex] a year, comes from individual donors. What is the total amount of donations the non-profit receives?
The percent is [latex]15\%[/latex], and [latex]$30,000[/latex] is the amount (or part of the whole). We are looking for the base.
base = [latex]30000\div(.15)=$200000[/latex]
The non-profit receives [latex]$200000[/latex] a year in donations
Here are a few more percent problems for you to try.
Many applications of percent occur in our daily lives, such as tips, sales tax, discount, and interest. To solve these applications we’ll translate to a basic percent equation, just like those we solved in the previous examples in this section. Once you translate the sentence into a percent equation, you know how to solve it.
Dezohn and his girlfriend enjoyed a dinner at a restaurant, and the bill was [latex]\text{\$68.50}[/latex]. They want to leave an [latex]\text{18%}[/latex] tip. If the tip will be [latex]\text{18%}[/latex] of the total bill, how much should the tip be?
In the next video we show another example of finding how much tip to give based on percent.
The label on Masao’s breakfast cereal said that one serving of cereal provides [latex]85[/latex] milligrams (mg) of potassium, which is [latex]\text{2%}[/latex] of the recommended daily amount. What is the total recommended daily amount of potassium?

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Calculator Soup ®
Online Calculators

Percentage Calculator

Calculator Use
Find a percentage or work out the percentage given numbers and percent values. Use percent formulas to figure out percentages and unknowns in equations. Add or subtract a percentage from a number or solve the equations.

How to Calculate Percentages
There are many formulas for percentage problems. You can think of the most basic as X/Y = P x 100. The formulas below are all mathematical variations of this formula.
Let's explore the three basic percentage problems. X and Y are numbers and P is the percentage:
- Find P percent of X
- Find what percent of X is Y
- Find X if P percent of it is Y
Read on to learn more about how to figure percentages.
1. How to calculate percentage of a number. Use the percentage formula: P% * X = Y
Example: What is 10% of 150?
- Convert the problem to an equation using the percentage formula: P% * X = Y
- P is 10%, X is 150, so the equation is 10% * 150 = Y
- Convert 10% to a decimal by removing the percent sign and dividing by 100: 10/100 = 0.10
- Substitute 0.10 for 10% in the equation: 10% * 150 = Y becomes 0.10 * 150 = Y
- Do the math: 0.10 * 150 = 15
- So 10% of 150 is 15
- Double check your answer with the original question: What is 10% of 150? Multiply 0.10 * 150 = 15
2. How to find what percent of X is Y. Use the percentage formula: Y/X = P%
Example: What percent of 60 is 12?
- Convert the problem to an equation using the percentage formula: Y/X = P%
- X is 60, Y is 12, so the equation is 12/60 = P%
- Do the math: 12/60 = 0.20
- Important! The result will always be in decimal form, not percentage form. You need to multiply the result by 100 to get the percentage.
- Converting 0.20 to a percent: 0.20 * 100 = 20%
- So 20% of 60 is 12.
- Double check your answer with the original question: What percent of 60 is 12? 12/60 = 0.20, and multiplying by 100 to get percentage, 0.20 * 100 = 20%
3. How to find X if P percent of it is Y. Use the percentage formula Y/P% = X
Example: 25 is 20% of what number?
- Convert the problem to an equation using the percentage formula: Y/P% = X
- Y is 25, P% is 20, so the equation is 25/20% = X
- Convert the percentage to a decimal by dividing by 100.
- Converting 20% to a decimal: 20/100 = 0.20
- Substitute 0.20 for 20% in the equation: 25/0.20 = X
- Do the math: 25/0.20 = X
- So 25 is 20% of 125
- Double check your answer with the original question: 25 is 20% of what number? 25/0.20 = 125
Remember: How to convert a percentage to a decimal
- Remove the percentage sign and divide by 100
- 15.6% = 15.6/100 = 0.156
Remember: How to convert a decimal to a percentage
- Multiply by 100 and add a percentage sign
- 0.876 = 0.876 * 100 = 87.6%
Percentage Problems
There are nine variations on the three basic problems involving percentages. See if you can match your problem to one of the samples below. The problem formats match the input fields in the calculator above. Formulas and examples are included.
What is P percent of X?
- Written as an equation: Y = P% * X
- The 'what' is Y that we want to solve for
- Remember to first convert percentage to decimal, dividing by 100
- Solution: Solve for Y using the percentage formula Y = P% * X
Example: What is 10% of 25?
- Written using the percentage formula: Y = 10% * 25
- First convert percentage to a decimal 10/100 = 0.1
- Y = 0.1 * 25 = 2.5
- So 10% of 25 is 2.5
Y is what percent of X?
- Written as an equation: Y = P% ? X
- The 'what' is P% that we want to solve for
- Divide both sides by X to get P% on one side of the equation
- Y ÷ X = (P% ? X) ÷ X becomes Y ÷ X = P%, which is the same as P% = Y ÷ X
- Solution: Solve for P% using the percentage formula P% = Y ÷ X
Example: 12 is what percent of 40?
- Written using the formula: P% = 12 ÷ 40
- P% = 12 ÷ 40 = 0.3
- Convert the decimal to percent
- P% = 0.3 × 100 = 30%
- So 12 is 30% of 40
Y is P percent of what?
- The 'what' is X that we want to solve for
- Divide both sides by P% to get X on one side of the equation
- Y ÷ P% = (P% × X) ÷ P% becomes Y ÷ P% = X, which is the same as X = Y ÷ P%
- Solution: Solve for X using the percentage formula X = Y ÷ P%
Example: 9 is 60% of what?
- Writen using the formula: X = 9 ÷ 60%
- Convert percent to decimal
- 60% ÷ 100 = 0.6
- X = 9 ÷ 0.6
- So 9 is 60% of 15
What percent of X is Y?
- Written as an equation: P% * X = Y
- (P% * X) ÷ X = Y ÷ X becomes P% = Y ÷ X
Example: What percent of 27 is 6?
- Written using the formula: P% = 6 ÷ 27
- 6 ÷ 27 = 0.2222
- Convert decimal to percent
- P% = 0.2222 × 100
- P% = 22.22%
- So 22.22% of 27 is 6
P percent of what is Y?
- Written as an equation: P% × X = Y
- (P% × X) ÷ P% = Y ÷ P% becomes X = Y ÷ P%
Example: 20% of what is 7?
- Written using the formula: X = 7 ÷ 20%
- Convert the percent to a decimal
- 20% ÷ 100 = 0.2
- X = 7 ÷ 0.2
- So 20% of 35 is 7.
P percent of X is what?
Example: 5% of 29 is what.
- Written using the formula: 5% * 29 = Y
- 5% ÷ 100 = 0.05
- Y = 0.05 * 29
- So 5% of 29 is 1.45
Y of what is P percent?
- Written as an equation: Y / X = P%
- Multiply both sides by X to get X out of the denominator
- (Y / X) * X = P% * X becomes Y = P% * X
- Divide both sides by P% so that X is on one side of the equation
- Y ÷ P% = (P% * X) ÷ P% becomes Y ÷ P% = X
Example: 4 of what is 12%?
- Written using the formula: X = 4 ÷ 12%
- Solve for X: X = Y ÷ P%
- 12% ÷ 100 = 0.12
- X = 4 ÷ 0.12
- X = 33.3333
- 4 of 33.3333 is 12%
What of X is P percent?
- Multiply both sides by X to get Y on one side of the equation
- (Y ÷ X) * X = P% * X becomes Y = P% * X
Example: What of 25 is 11%?
- Written using the formula: Y = 11% * 25
- 11% ÷ 100 = 0.11
- Y = 0.11 * 25
- So 2.75 of 25 is 11%
Y of X is what percent?
- Solution: Solve for P% using the percentage formula P% = Y / X
Example: 9 of 13 is what percent?
- Written using the formula: P% = Y / X
- 9 ÷ 13 = P%
- 9 ÷ 13 = 0.6923
- Convert decimal to percent by multiplying by 100
- 0.6923 * 100 = 69.23%
- 9 ÷ 13 = 69.23%
- So 9 of 13 is 69.23%
Related Calculators
Find the change in percentage as an increase or decrease using the Percentage Change Calculator .
Solve decimal to percentage conversions with our Decimal to Percent Calculator .
Convert from percentage to decimals with the Percent to Decimal Calculator .
If you need to convert between fractions and percents see our Fraction to Percent Calculator , or our Percent to Fraction Calculator .
Weisstein, Eric W. " Percent ." From MathWorld -- A Wolfram Web Resource.
Cite this content, page or calculator as:
Furey, Edward " Percentage Calculator " at https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/math/percentage.php from CalculatorSoup, https://www.calculatorsoup.com - Online Calculators
A percent is a type of ratio where something is compared to a hundred. Probabilities, scores, and success rates are commonly written in percents.
- 1 Conversion to Fractions and Decimals
- 2 Percent of a Number
- 3 Percent Change
- 4 Percent Increase and Decrease
- 5.1 Introductory Problems
- 5.2 Intermediate Problems
Conversion to Fractions and Decimals

Percent of a Number

Percent Change

Percent Increase and Decrease
If the new quantity is greater than the original quantity, then the percent change is called a percent increase . If the new quantity is smaller than the original quantity, then the percent change is called a percent decrease .

Introductory Problems
- Simple Percents (Prealgebra)
- Combining Percents (Prealgebra)
- 2006 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 4
Intermediate Problems
- 1990 AIME Problems/Problem 6
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Percent. A percent is a type of ratio where something is compared to a hundred. Probabilities, scores, and success rates are commonly written in percents.