Calculator: Calculating percentages – here’s how

Basically, you can calculate various values when calculating percentages with a standard calculator.

• Calculating a percentage value: Often, you want to find out how much a certain proportion of a number is, for example, how much a $50 sweater is reduced by with a 20 percent discount.
• The price of $50 corresponds to the base value, and the 20 percent discount is the percentage. To calculate the percentage value you are looking for, simply multiply the base value by the percentage divided by 100.
• In the example with the sweater, this looks like this: $50 x 20 : 100 = $10
• The discount on the sweater is therefore $10. It now costs a total of $40.
• Calculating the percentage: If you already know two numbers and want to know the percentage ratio between them, you can calculate the percentage. To do this, simply divide the percentage value by the base value and multiply the result by 100.
• So if you want to know what percentage of 70 the number 52.5 is, the formula looks like this: 52.5 : 70 x 100 = 75
• So 52.5 is 75 percent of 70.
• Calculating the base value: The base value can be calculated in the same way. For example, if you know that 55 percent (percentage) of a certain value is 66 (percentage value), but you don’t know the value itself, simply divide the percentage value by the percentage and multiply the result by 100.
• 66 : 55 x 100 = 120
• The base value in the example is therefore 120. 66 is 55 percent of this.