USING AND FINDING PERCENTS

28

28

Using and
Finding Percents

Finding a Percent of a Number

You can use decimals or fractions to find the percent of a
number. You first change the percent to a decimal or a fraction.
Sometimes it is easier to change to a decimal representation and
other times to a fractional one.
You can use either the fraction method or the decimal method
to find 25% of 60.

EXAMPLE Finding the Percent of a Number: Two Methods

Find 25% of 60.
Decimal Method
Change percent to decimal.
25% = 0.25
Multiply.
0.25 60 = 15
So, 25% of 60 = 15.

Fraction Method
Change percent to fraction.
25
25% = _
100
Reduce fraction to lowest terms.
25
1
_
=_
4
100
Multiply.
60
60
_1 _
=_
= 15
4
4
1
So, 25% of 60 = 15.

Check It Out

Find the percent of each number.

1 65% of 80
2 85% of 500
3 30% of 90
4 75% of 420

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Finding the Percent of a Number: Proportion Method

You can also use proportions to help you find the percent of
a number.

EXAMPLE Finding the Percent of a Number: Proportion Method

Gwen works in a music store. She receives a commission of
10% on her sales. Last month she sold $850 worth of CDs.
What was her commission?
Use a proportion (p. 261) to find the percent of a number.
W
P
_
=_
P = Part (of the whole or total)
100
R
W = Whole (total)
R = Rate (percentage)
Identify the given items before trying to find the unknown.
P is unknown; call it x.
R is 10%.
W is $850.
Set up the proportion.
x
850
W
P
_
_
=_
=_
100
10
100
R
Cross multiply.
100x = 8,500
Divide both sides of the equation by 100.
8,500
100x
_
=_
100
100
85 = x
Gwen received a commission of $85.

Check It Out

Use a proportion to find the percent of each number.

5 76% of 39
6 14% of 85
7 66% of 122
8 55% of 300

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Finding Percent and Whole

Setting up and solving a proportion can help you find what
R
P
=_
percent a number is of a second number. Use the ratio _
100
W
where P = Part (of whole), W = Whole, and R = Rate
(percentage).

EXAMPLE Finding the Percent

What percent of 40 is 15?
Set up a proportion using this form.
Part
Percent
_
=_
Whole

15
n
_
=_
40

100

100

(The number after the word of indicates the whole.)

Find the cross products of the proportion.
100 15 = 40 n
Find the products.
1,500 = 40n
Divide both sides of the equation by 100.
1,500
1,500
40n
_
_
=_
=n
37.5% = n
40

40

40

So, 15 is 37.5% of 40.

Check It Out

Solve.
9 What percent of 240 is 80?
10 What percent of 64 is 288?
11 What percent of 2 is 8?
12 What percent of 55 is 33?

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EXAMPLE Finding the Whole

8 is 32% of what number?
Set up a percent proportion using this form.
Part
Percent
_
=_
Whole

32
_8 = _
n

100

100

(The phrase what number after the word of is the whole.)

Find the cross products of the proportion.
8 100 = 32 n
Find the products.
800 = 32n
Divide both sides of the equation.
800
32n
_
=_
32
32
n = 25
So, 8 is 32% of 25.

Check It Out

Find the whole.

13 52 is 50% of what number?
14 15 is 75% of what number?
15 40 is 160% of what number?
16 84 is 7% of what number?

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Estimating a Percent of a Number

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28

To estimate a percent of a number, you can use what you know

about compatible numbers and simple fractions.
The table can help you estimate the percent of a number.
Percent

1% 5% 10% 20% 25% 33_1 % 50% 66_2 % 75% 100%

1
1
1
_
_
Fraction _
100 20 10

_1
5

_1
4

_1
3

_1
2

_2
3

_3
4

EXAMPLE Estimating a Percent of a Number

Estimate 12% of 32.
Find the percent that is closest to the percent you want to find.
12% is about 10%.
Find the fractional equivalent for the percent.
1
10% is equivalent to _
.
10
Find a compatible number for the number you want to find the percent of.
32 is about 30.
Use the fraction to find the percent.
1
_
of 30 is 3.
10

So, 12% of 32 is about 3.

Check It Out

Estimate the percent.

17 19% of 112
18 65% of 298

Percent of Increase or Decrease

Sometimes it is helpful to keep a record of your monthly
expenses. Keeping a record allows you to see the actual percent
of increase or decrease in your expenses. You can make a chart to
record your expenses.

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Amount of
% of
Increase or Increase or
Expenses
November December Decrease Decrease
Clothing
$ 125
$ 76
$ 49
39%
Entertainment
$ 44
$ 85
Food
$ 210
$199
$ 11
5%
Miscellaneous
$ 110
$ 95
Rent
$ 450
$465
$ 15
3%
Travel
$ 83
$ 65
Total
$1,022
$985
$ 37
4%

EXAMPLE Finding the Percent of Increase

According to the table, how much was the percent of increase
for entertainment?
Subtract the original amount from the new
85 - 44 = 41
amount to find the amount of increase.
Divide the amount of increase by the original
0.931818
44 !"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
41.000000
amount.
- 396
______
140
- 132
______
80
- 44
____
360
- 352
_____
80
- 44
____
360
- 352
_____
8
0.931818 = 0.93 = 93% Round to the nearest hundredth, and convert
to a percent.
The percent of increase from $44 to $85 is 93%.

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EXAMPLE Finding the Percent of Decrease

During November, $83 was spent on travel. In December, $65
was spent on travel. How much was the percent of decrease?
Subtract the new amount from the
83 - 65 = 18
original amount to find the amount
of decrease.
Divide the amount of decrease by the
0.216867
!
18.000000
original amount.
83 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
- 166
______
140
- 83
____
570
- 498
_____
720
- 664
_____
560
- 498
_____
620
- 581
_____
39
Round to the nearest hundredth, and
0.216867 = 0.22 = 22%
convert to a percent.
The percent of decrease from $83 to $65 is 22%.

Check It Out

Use a calculator to find the percent of increase or decrease.

19 16 to 38
20 43 to 5
21 99 to 3
22 6 to 10

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Discounts and Sale Prices

A discount is the amount that an item is reduced from the
regular price. The sale price is the regular price minus the
discount. Discount stores have regular prices below the suggested
retail price. You can use percents to find discount and resulting
sale prices.
This CD player has a regular
price of $109.99. It is on sale
for 25% off the regular price.
How much money will you save
by buying the item on sale?

EXAMPLE Finding Discounts and Sale Prices

The regular price of an item is $109.99. It is marked 25% off.
Find the discount and the sale price.
Multiply the regular price by the discount.
$109.99
0.25
______
54995
+ 21998
________
27.4975
If necessary, round the discount to the
27.4975 = 27.50
nearest hundredth.
The discount is $27.50.
Subtract the discount from the regular price.
$109.99
27.50
This will give you the sale price.
_______
$ 82.49
The sale price is $82.49.

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Check It Out

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Find the discount and sale price.

23 regular price: $90, discount percent: 40%
24 regular price: $120, discount percent: 15%
Sales Tax
You can use the tax rate to help you find the amount of sales tax
on a purchase. Add the amount of the tax to the purchase price
to find the total cost.
Estimate a 7% sales tax on a purchase of $27.36.
Think of the percent as a benchmark.
7
7% = 0.07 = _
100
Multiply.
27.36 0.07 = 1.915
Round to the nearest hundredth: $1.92.
Add the tax to the purchase to find the total.
$27.36 + $1.92 = $29.28

Check It Out

Find the final cost of each purchase.

25 8% tax on $84.34
26 20% tax on $1,289.78
27 7% tax on $167.13

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Finding Simple Interest

When you have a savings account, the bank pays you for the use
of your money. When you take out a loan from a bank, you pay
the bank for the use of their money. In both situations, the
money paid is called the interest. The amount of money you
borrow or have in your savings account is called the principal.
To find out how much interest you will pay or earn, you can
use the formula I = p r t. The table below can help you
understand the formula.
P
R
T
I
A

Principalthe amount of money you borrow or save

Interest Ratethe percent of the principal you pay or earn
Timethe length of time you borrow or save (in years)
Total Interestthe interest you pay or earn for the entire time
Amounttotal amount (principal plus interest) you pay or earn

EXAMPLE Finding Simple Interest

Find the total amount you will pay if you borrow $5,000 at 7%
simple interest for 3 years.
Use the formula to find the total
prt=I
5,000
350
amount you will pay.
0.07
3
______
____
350
1050
$1,050 is the interest.
To find the total amount you will pay
p + I = total amount
$5,000
back, add the principal and the
+ 1,050
interest.
_______
$6,050
$6,050 is the total amount of money to be paid back.

Check It Out

Find the interest (I) and the total amount.

28 P = $750, R = 13%, T = 2 years
29 P = $3,600, R = 14%, T = 9 months
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Exercises

Find the percent of each number.

1. 3% of 45
2. 44% of 125
3. 95% of 64
4. 2% of 15.4
Solve.
5. What percent of 40 is 29?
6. 15 is what percent of 60?
7. 4 is what percent of 18?
8. What percent of 5 is 3?
9. 64 is what percent of 120?
Solve.
10. 40% of what number is 30?
11. 25% of what number is 11?
12. 96% of what number is 24?
13. 67% of what number is 26.8?
14. 62% of what number is 15.5?
Find the percent of increase or decrease to the nearest percent.
15. 8 to 10
16. 45 to 18
17. 12 to 4
18. 15 to 20

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Find the discount and sale price.

19. regular price: $19.95, discount percent: 40%
20. regular price: $65.99, discount percent: 15%
21. regular price: $285.75, discount percent: 22%
22. regular price: $385, discount percent: 40%
Find the final cost of each purchase.
23. 20% tax on $1,608.98
24. 6% tax on $278.13
Find the interest and total amount.
25. P = $8,500, R = 6.5% per year, T = 1 year
26. P = $1,200, R = 7% per year, T = 2 years
27. P = $2,400, R = 11% per year, T = 6 months
Estimate the percent of each number.
28. 15% of 65
29. 27% of 74
30. 76% of 124
31. Lyudmila bought a CD player for 25% off the regular price of
$179.99. How much did she save? How much did she pay?
32. A DVD player is on sale for 15% off the regular price of
$289.89. What is the discount? What is the sale price?

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