Converting a Percentage to a Decimal
(KS3, Year 7)
A percentage can be converted to a decimal.

convert percentage to decimal

How to Convert a Percentage to a Decimal

Converting a percentage to a decimal is easy. Divide the percentage by 100.

convert percentage to decimal method

Question

What is 20% as a decimal?

Step-by-Step:

1

Divide the percentage (20) by 100.
20 ÷ 100 = 0.2
Note: Do not write the % (percent) sign after the decimal.

Answer:

20% converted to a decimal is 0.2.

convert 20 percent to decimal

Lesson Slides

The slider below gives another example of converting a percentage to a decimal.

Top Tip

Short Cut

Converting a percentage to a decimal happens by dividing the percentage by. Dividing by 100 is equivalent to moving the decimal point 2 places to the left:

move decimal point With practice, it should become easy to visualise this and write the answer down immediately:

1% = 0.01

9% = 0.09

36% = 0.36

72% = 0.72

100% = 1.00

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This page was written by Stephen Clarke.