Final answer:
A percent sign (%) represents a percentage, which is a fraction based on a whole divided into 100 parts. To calculate it, divide the part by the total and multiply by 100, like 5 out of 100 equals 5%.
Step-by-step explanation:
The percent sign (%) is a symbol used in mathematics to represent a percentage, which is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. To calculate a percentage, you can take the part or the value you're interested in, divide it by the total value, and then multiply by 100 to get the percentage. As an example, if we have 5 out of a total of 100 items, this is represented as 5% because 5 divided by 100 multiplied by 100 equals 5%. In situations where you would indicate proportions, such as '25% of the values fall between one and five', we use percentages to make comparisons and understand distributions within a given total.