Solution: 36/42 as a percent is 85.714%
Methods
Method 1 – Converting 36/42 Into a Percentage:
First, let’s go over what a fraction represents. The number above the line is called the numerator, while the number below the line is called the denominator. The fraction shows how many portions of the number there are, in relation to how many would make up the whole. For instance, in the fraction 36/42, we could say that the value is 36 portions, out of a possible 42 portions to make up the whole.
For percentages, the difference is that we want to know how many portions there are if there are 100 portions possible. “Percent” means “per hundred”. For example, if we look at the percentage 25%, that means we have 25 portions of the possible 100 portions. Re-writing this in fraction form, we see 25/100.
The first step in converting a fraction to a percentage is to adjust the fraction so that the denominator is 100. To do this, you first divide 100 by the denominator:
100
42
=
2.381
\frac{100}{42} = 2.381
42 100 = 2.381
We can then adjust the whole fraction using this number, like so:
36
∗
2.381
42
∗
2.381
=
85.714
100
\frac{36*2.381}{42*2.381} = \frac{85.714}{100}
42 ∗ 2.381 36 ∗ 2.381 = 100 85.714
Reading this as a fraction, we can say that we have 85.714 portions of a possible 100 portions.
Re-writing this as a percentage, we can see that 36/42 as a percentage is 85.714%
Method 2 – Converting 36/42 Into a Percentage Using Decimals:
Another way we can convert 36/42 into a percentage is to first convert 36/42 into a decimal. We can do this by simply dividing the numerator by the denominator:
36
42
=
0.857
\frac{36}{42} = 0.857
42 36 = 0.857
Once we have the answer, we can multiply the new decimal by 100 to get the percentage:
0.857 × 100 = 85.714
As you can see, we get the same answer as the first method and find that 36/42 as a percentage is 85.714%.
Now you know of two different ways to convert 36/42 into a percentage! While converting using a decimal takes fewer steps, you first need to master converting fractions into decimals. Try out both methods and see which one works best for you!
Practice more percentage problems!
Practice makes perfect so why not check out some of other problems where you can convert a fraction to a percentage?
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