In order to find out what 500 increased by 4.6% would be, we simply have to find what 4.6% of 500 would be, and then add that to the original 500. In mathematics, the word 'of' always implies multiplication, so we just need to multiply 4.6% by 500.
To multiply a percentage, we must first convert that percentage into a decimal. We can do this by either dividing the percentage by 100, or (my personal shortcut) just shifting the decimal point over two places to the left.
4.6% = 0.046
Now, we just need to multiply.
500 * 0.046 = 23
So now we know that 4.6% of 500 is 23.
Now, all we need to do to find our answer is add 500 and 23 together.
500 + 23 = 523
So that's our answer.
500 increased by 4.6% is 523.
Hope that helped! =)