Finding the Percentage of a Number
(KS3, Year 7)

The Lesson

A percentage of a number lets us find part of a number. Imagine 60% (60 percent) of a class of 25 students love mathematics. 15 students (60% of 25) love mathematics.

How to Find the Percentage of a Number

To find the percentage of a number you have to divide the percentage by 100 then multiply the answer by the number:

A Real Example of How to Find the Percentage of a Number

Question

What is 60% of 25?

Step-by-Step:

1

Write a percentage of a number as a percentage/100 × number, like the formula above. In our example, the number is 25 and the fraction is 60.

2

Divide the percentage (60) by 100.

60 ÷ 100 = 0.6

3

Multiply the answer (0.6) by the number (25).

0.6 × 25 = 15

Answer:

60% of 25 is 15.

Lesson Slides

The slider below gives another example of finding the percentage of a number. Open the slider in a new tab

What Is a Percentage?

A percentage expresses a part of a whole number as parts out of 100. "Per cent" means "per 100" or "out of 100". A percentage is shown by the symbol %.

Why Does the Formula Work?

Finding the percentage of a number uses the formula below:

In the example on this page, 60% of 25 has been expressed as the formula below:

60% has been written as a fraction (60/100). (Percentages and fractions are both ways of expressing a part of a whole). Read more about converting percentages to fractions Then part of the number is found by multiplying the fraction (60/100) with the number (25). Read more about finding the fraction of a number
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See Also

What is a percentage? What is a fraction? Converting percentages to fractions Finding the fraction of a number