Question

Why do you multiply when you are trying to find the percentage of a number?

Hello, I'm curious about something regarding percent problems.

So when you are given a problem such as: What is 25% of 20?

You have to multiply 25% by turning it into a fraction form:


`(25)/(100) * (20)/(1) = (500)/(100) = 5`

you can also use the decimal form : 0.25 × 20 = 5

I understand how to do it a little, My confusion is in understanding why we multiply first.


So I'd like to ask exactly why do you multiply when you are trying to find the percentage of a number?

Answer 1

So percent mean "100%" so we multiply to see how much we get out of one group of 100. I hope you understand now.