Basic Mathematics for College Students

In the figure below, there are 100 equal-sized square regions, and 93 of them are

shaded. Thus, or 93 percent of the figure is shaded. The word percentcan be written

using the symbol %, so we say that 93% of the figure is shaded.

Numerator

 93%

Per 100

If the entire figure had been shaded, we would say that 100 out of the 100 square

regions, or 100%, was shaded. Using this fact, we can determine what percent of the

93

100

10093

500 Chapter 6 Percent

SECTION 6.1

Percents, Decimals, and Fractions

Objectives

1 Explain the meaning of percent.

2 Write percents as fractions.

3 Write percents as decimals.

4 Write decimals as percents.

5 Write fractions as percents.

We see percents everywhere, everyday. Stores use them to advertise discounts,

manufacturers use them to describe the contents of their products, and banks use

them to list interest rates for loans and savings accounts. Newspapers are full of

information presented in percent form. In this section, we introduce percents and

show how fractions, decimals, and percents are related.

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1 Explain the meaning of percent.
A percent tells us the number of parts per one hundred. You can think of a percent as
the numeratorof a fraction (or ratio) that has a denominator of 100.
Percent
Percentmeans parts per one hundred.
The Language of Mathematics The word percentis formed from the prefix
per,which means ratio, and the suffix cent,which comes from the Latin word
centum,meaning 100.
per • cent
ratio 100