Percent Calculations: Comparisons Using Percents
Percents are a CONVENIENT Approach to EXPRESS a PROPORTION.
Calculating a percent might be work. However, when the percent calculation continues to be completed, PERCENTS are simple to UNDERSTAND.
For example, suppose two students have the following academic averages: 84% and 86%.
You can easily note that (all other things being equal) the student using the 86% average is the foremost student. All anyone needs to do is consider the numbers. 86% can be a bigger number than 84%. 86% is better than 84%.
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Even if the person reading both numbers (84% & 86%) doesn't have idea the way a percent is calculated, they still recognize that 86% is larger and than 84%.
What percents actually mean:
I am going to carry on using the illustration of the 2 students who earned the 84% and 86% averages. For this example, the students earned their percentage scores entirely from multiple choice tests. (Students in real life do not just take multiple choice tests. However, for this example that's all they are doing.) 84% signifies that for each 100 multiple choice questions this student attempted to answer, this student answered 84 correctly. 86% implies that for each and every 100 multiple choice questions this student tried to answer, this student answered 86 correctly. Right now you may be thinking: Students' usually are not given tests with exactly 100 questions each time. The student that's given an exam with only 75 questions, or perhaps the student that is given a test with 150 questions?
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A % calculation compensates of these differences. Which is one reason a percent calculation is indeed practical.
Fractions could possibly be used instead of a percent.
A percent can be used represent a proportion.
However, probably the most STRAIGHTFORWARD way to represent a PROPORTION is to USE a FRACTION. As an example, think the first student in the example actually took a test with only 75 questions and answered 63 questions correctly. The proportion of questions answered correctly can be represented from the fraction 63/75 (63 correct answers from 75 questions). Now imagine that the second student within the example actually took an exam with 150 questions and answered 129 questions correctly. The proportion of questions answered correctly could be represented through the fraction 129/150 (129 correct answers away from 150 questions).
Which student is the best student?
Compare the fractions.
Which student has got the highest average (the larger fraction)? 63/75 or 129/150? It is extremely tough to answer that question by simply glancing at these fractions. Writing fractions to represent a proportion might be easy, but comparing different fractions may be frustrating and time intensive. Using a percent to compare two proportions doesn't need this difficulty. Comparing two percents is simple to accomplish. For this reason a percent is generally used rather than fraction. (However, remember that a fraction plus a percent both REPRESENT a similar thing: a PROPORTION.)
How you can calculate a percent:
Calculating a percent takes a tiny amount of work. Calculating a percent means the fraction (which represents the proportion) must be transformed into a decimal, and therefore the decimal must be multiplied by 100. To finish this method: work with a calculator or why not be willing to perform some division long hand.
Converting the 2 fractions from to percents: 63/75 and 129/150
Percent - 1st student
Proportion = 63/75
= (63/75) * 100
= (.84) * 100
= 84 %
Percent - 2nd student
Proportion = 129/150
= (129/150) * 100
= (.86) * 100
= 86 %