How Do I Convert Percents And Fractions (Part I)?
Have you ever read a financial column or listened to a presentation where the writer or speakers used percents and fractions interchangeably? Have you ever wondered how to convert one into the other? It’s not as hard as it sounds The first step is to understand that all percents are actually fractions over 100. For example, 7% is 7/100, 35% is 35/100, and 60% is 60/100. To convert 60% into a fraction, first write it as 60/100. Then reduce the fraction by finding the largest number that will go into both 60 and 100. Did you come up with 20? Correct! Divide 60 and 100 by 20. Then you get 3 and 5. So 60/100 can be reduced to 3/5. Therefore 60% is the same thing as three fifths. Sometimes you can’t reduce a fraction, such as 7/100, so there isn’t any extra work. The most commonly used percents-as-fractions are 20% = 1/5, 25% = 1/4, 33.3% = 1/3, 50% = 1/2, 66.7% = 2/3, and 75% = 3/4.
