Questions tagged [percentages]

A percentage is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of $100$. It is often denoted using the percent sign, "$%$", or the abbreviation "$\mathrm{pct}$." -Wikipedia. Percentages are used when describing portions or proportional changes.

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Find % difference between a positive and a negative number

I am trying to work out the percentage difference between two numbers (one of which is negative), NOT PERCENTAGE CHANGE. I have done quite a bit of reading, but there doesn't appear to be a definitive answer. Where both numbers are positive, I have…
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Percentage value higher than 100%

I have two values A= 3.8620E+00 B = 1.4396E+00 According to this post, to calculate how much A is higher than B in percentage we do this: ((A-B)/B)*100 = ((3.8620E+00 - 1.4396E+00)/1.4396E+00)*100 = 168.2690% Does this mean the value A is…
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Why can the Potato Paradox be quantified as $0.99⋅100−0.98(100−w)=w$?

I understand the two Simple Explanations, but not Algebraic Explanation Method 2. I substitute $x$ in Wikipedia with $w$, as $x$ is already used for another method. The weight of water in the fresh potatoes is $0.99 ⋅ 100.$ If $w$ is the weight of…
user53259
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Why can the Potato Paradox be quantified as $1 + \dfrac{98}{100}{x} = x$?

I understand the two Simple Explanations, but not the Algebraic Explanation Method 1. After the evaporating of the water, the remaining total quantity, $x$ , contains 1 lb pure potatoes and $(98/100)x$ water. The equation becomes: $1 +…
user53259
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How much of the total is percentage after a percentage?

Imagine we have a pie and let $p,q$ be ratios between 0 and 1 (non-inclusive). If I first take $p$ out of the pie, and then $q$ out of the remainder, how much is that of the whole pie? I can easily visualize that if $p=0.5$ so I take half of the…
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Intuitive formulae for percentage increase and percentage decrease

The traditional formula for calculating a percentage change is as follows: Going from 45 to 430: $$ \frac{430 - 45}{45} \times 100 = 856\% $$ Going from 430 to 45: $$ \frac{45- 430}{430} \times 100 = -90\% $$ The values are correct, but they're…
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Profitability calculation

The question is as follows: Question is that how many % profit in euros decreases. Selling price of 70€ includes 40% profit. Price was decreased by 10%. How many % does the profit decrease? My math is x*1.4=70 x=50 70*.9=63 63-50=13 13/20=.65…
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How to get part of total based on 2 percentages

sorry I don't know the name for this problem, nor if it's even solvable. I'm trying to calculate the new delivery cost based on previous data. Say we have 2 products with respective delivery cost per item: Apple --> 7 $ (7 -> current value) Melon…
user7552
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How to determine Percent of a range?

I have a range and a target. I want to determine that target is how percent of range. for exam: Minimum = -54 Maximum = 96 Target = -19.5 Result = 23% The result (-19.5) is 23% of the range (-54 .. 96). How can I calculate it?
Vahid
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Percentage question based on voting

Please help me solve this problem. Thank you.
Soumee
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Is 35%=0.35 not as a percentage of a number but just on its own?

I was having a disagreement with a number of people commenting on a Daily Mail story and I got a few red arrows indicating disapproval to my comment that 35% is not a number but a proportion and that it is not 0.35 unless we are talking about 35% of…
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How to take the average for percent error?

I have roughly 39 data points that are values for % error. I have been researching and found that it is not correct to simply take the average of the % errors. Is this correct? If so, what is the correct way to take the average for % error values?…
m.car
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Middle school problem - Percentage of students passing an exam

This is a middle school problem that my nephew got, the teacher asked to solve it without using proportions: The $\frac23$ of boys and the $\frac34$ of girls have passed an exam. Knowing that the number of boys enrolled in the exam is three times…
Hyperion
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Shortcut for percentage increase and decrease involving odd numbers

Is there a shortcut to find $39\%$ of $234$? One way is to find $\frac{39}{100}\times234$. This involves multiplying decimal numbers. Second way is find $10\%$ which is $23.4$, and then $40\%$ which is $93.6$ and subtract $1\%$ which is $2.34$.…
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How do I find what $100\%$ is, if $15\%$ is $250,000$?

I am doing a budget planning and got problem with this question: How do I find what $100\%$ is, if $15\%$ is $250,000$? Is it $$\frac{250,000}{15} \times 100?$$
TheFermat
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