How to Pass Numerical Reasoning (27 page)
Read How to Pass Numerical Reasoning Online
Authors: Heidi Smith
Reduce the fraction to its lowest terms:
To express a decimal as a percentage
Move the decimal point two places to the right and add the % sign. This is the same as multiplying by 100.
0.025 = 2.5%
1.875 = 187.5%
To express a percentage as a decimal
Drop the % sign and move the decimal point two places to the left. This is the same as dividing by 100.
37.5% = 0.375
253% = 2.53
To express a fraction as a decimal
Divide the numerator by the denominator:
¼ = 1 ÷ 4 = 0.25
5
⁄
2
= 5 ÷ 2 = 2.5
To express a percentage as a fraction
Remember that a percentage is a fraction of 100, so write the percentage as a fraction where the denominator is 100.
To express a decimal as a fraction
Express the decimal as a fraction over 100 and reduce the fraction to its lowest terms:
The following tables are a quick reference to percentage, fraction and decimal equivalents. Become familiar with equivalents to save time in your test.
Percentage | Decimal | Fraction |
100% | 1 | 1 |
10% | 0.1 | 1 |
1% | 0.01 | 1 |
0.1% | 0.001 | 1 |
0.01% | 0.0001 | 1 |
0.001% | 0.00001 | 1 |
Percentage | Decimal | Fraction |
½% | 0.005 | 1 |
¼% | 0.0025 | 1 |
1 | 0.00125 | 1 |
Percentage | Decimal | Fraction |
50% | 0.5 | ½ |
33 | 0.3 | 1 |
66 | 0.6 | 2 |
25% | 0.25 | ¼ |
75% | 0.75 | ¾ |
20% | 0.2 | 1 |
40% | 0.4 | 2 |
60% | 0.6 | 3 |
80% | 0.8 | 4 |
16.6% | 0.16 | 1 |
12.5% | 0.125 | 1 |
37.5% | 0.375 | 3 |
62.5% | 0.625 | 5 |
87.5% | 0.875 | 7 |
11.1% | 0.11 | 1 |
22.2% | 0.22 | 2 |
Percentage converter drill
Set a stopwatch and aim to complete each of the following 10 question drills in 75 seconds.
| Convert to percentage | Convert to decimal | Convert to fraction |
Q1 | 0.25 | 1 | 87.5% |
Q2 | 0.75 | 1 | 0.5% |
Q3 | 0.1 | 5 | 0.125% |
Q4 | 0.0047 | 3 | 60% |
Q5 | 0.063 | 3 | 250% |
Q6 | ½ | 0.1% | 0.625 |
Q7 | 7 | 0.043% | 2.75 |
Q8 | 5 | 8.3% | 0.006 |
Q9 | 1 | 430% | 0.125 |
Q10 | 4 | 5 | 6.002 |
Many word problems involving percentages require you to work out the missing number in a three-piece puzzle. In percentage problems, the three pieces are the
whole
, the
part
and the
percentage
. The relationship between the three pieces is expressed as: Part = Percentage × Whole
This can be rearranged as:
