Question

Captain Perguin bought 150 crackers for his

pet parrot. He ate 10% of them himself. How
many crackers did Captain Perguin eat?

Answer 1

15

Explanation:

Percentages represent a proportion of a number. This means that a percentage represents part of a whole.

In this question, Captain Perguin ate 10% of 150 crackers. There are 2 ways to solve this problem explained below.

Multiplication

One way to find a percentage is through multiplication.

• First, convert the percentage into a decimal. Do this by moving the decimal point 2 places to the left. This means that 10% becomes 0.1

• Next, multiply this decimal by the whole number.
• Then, multiply
  `150*0.1=15`.
• This means that Captain Perguin ate 15 crackers.

Shortcut

Multiplication is not the only way to find the answer. This question is special because it asks for 10%. Instead of multiplication, you could simply move the decimal point of the original number 1 digit to the left. This means that 10% of 150 must be 15. Remember this trick does not work for percentages other than 10%.