Percentages are a part of our daily life whether we realize it or not. Percentage is used in many different contexts, including but not limited to: cash back on purchases, interest rates on loans, and discount percentages when shopping. But what does the word “percent” even mean?
Just think of it as another method to write a number as a fraction of 100. When we say that something is 50%, we indicate that it is half as likely as it is to be 100%. When we say “7%,” we’re referring to a percentage of 10 out of 70.
Uses of Percentages in Everyday Life
It’s a fundamental notion in everyday utility mathematics that streamlines many facets of being alive. This article will thus focus on the places where we often interact with percentages and how to do so. See below for details.
1. How to Figure Out Restaurant Gratuities
We make frequent trips to the mall in search of various necessities. This way, the concept of bartering money for goods is accessible to everyone. For this exercise, parents might provide their help to their children. Supposing you ate out and racked up a debt of $50. Consider leaving a 20% tip. Multiply the total amount of the bill by 0.2 to get the information. This method will get you a discount of 20%, or $10.
2. To Determine the Applicable Sales Tax Rate
Since sales tax is included in every purchase and is collected legally, it is crucial to understand how it works. To understand the total cost of an item, children can practice this concept by multiplying the price of the item by the applicable sales tax rate. To illustrate, say you want to buy a $25 blouse, but the local sales tax is 6%. Multiply the shirt’s price by 0.06 to estimate the tax. Therefore, $1.50 total includes taxes on that garment.
3. Tool for Calculating Price Cuts
Everywhere you look, you can find sales on anything from clothing and shoes to books and electronics. Knowing the list price or initial price of an item and the discount % allows you to determine your savings. The listing Price multiplied by the discount percentage would equal the total amount of the discount. If a blouse costs typically $50 but sells for $20 off, you would multiply the original price by 0.2 to get the price after the reduction. For this scenario, you will receive $10 (20% of $50). It would cost $40 to buy the shirt in its entirety.
4. Baseball/Softball Batting Average
Baseball is perhaps even more beloved in the United States than cheeseburgers. While baseball is a sport that individuals of all ages can enjoy, even the youngest players can calculate their batting average. It is originated by dividing the number of hits by the total number of at-bats. Imagine you have 100 hits in 400 at-bats. The batting average is found by dividing 100 by 400. You’d have a 25% batting average.
5. Findings of the Survey
The findings of surveys are frequently reported in numerical form, typically as a percentage. Bar charts and pie charts make it easy to see the rates that accompany these numbers. This is for the sole purpose of clarifying the findings of the research. For instance, if you take a group of 50 people and divide them by their preferred cuisine, you’d find that 10% prefer Asian food, 30% prefer Italian, 5% prefer Mexican, 25% prefer fast food, and 30% prefer healthier options.
6. Examining Your Academic Report Card
Another common application of percentages is that students should be familiar with them. To do so, you must to know how much emphasis will be placed on certain types of homework, quizzes, exams, etc. Typically, the weight will be expressed as a percentage. A final exam may count for 30% of your overall mark. Therefore, if you earned an 80 on the test, you would multiply your score by 0.3 to determine the percentage of your grade that the exam contributed.
Learn More: The Future of Learning and Development
7. Experiencing Inflation
Inflation is a fundamental economic concept used to determine the aggregate Inflation of commodities and services over a certain period. Economists can calculate the annual, 5-year, and 10-year price inflation rates by tallying and calculating the prices and quantities. A package of tea leaves that sold for $5 in 2020 but cost $7.50 in 2022 reflects Inflation of 50% during that period.
8. Power Supply Unit
In a world where everyone is always connected to their gadgets, dead batteries are a common occurrence that can delay and impede productivity. But to avoid having widgets die unexpectedly, they all have a battery percentage that can be tracked. The battery life ratio indicates how much power is left in our mobile devices, cameras, and computers. The portion aids us in monitoring the battery.
