Solution: 90/42 as a percent is 214.286%
Methods
Method 1 – Converting 90/42 Into a Percentage:
First, let’s go over what a fraction represents. The number above the line is called the numerator, while the number below the line is called the denominator. The fraction shows how many portions of the number there are, in relation to how many would make up the whole. For instance, in the fraction 90/42, we could say that the value is 90 portions, out of a possible 42 portions to make up the whole.
For percentages, the difference is that we want to know how many portions there are if there are 100 portions possible. “Percent” means “per hundred”. For example, if we look at the percentage 25%, that means we have 25 portions of the possible 100 portions. Re-writing this in fraction form, we see 25/100.
The first step in converting a fraction to a percentage is to adjust the fraction so that the denominator is 100. To do this, you first divide 100 by the denominator:
100
42
=
2.381
\frac{100}{42} = 2.381
42 100 = 2.381
We can then adjust the whole fraction using this number, like so:
90
∗
2.381
42
∗
2.381
=
214.286
100
\frac{90*2.381}{42*2.381} = \frac{214.286}{100}
42 ∗ 2.381 90 ∗ 2.381 = 100 214.286
Reading this as a fraction, we can say that we have 214.286 portions of a possible 100 portions.
Re-writing this as a percentage, we can see that 90/42 as a percentage is 214.286%
Method 2 – Converting 90/42 Into a Percentage Using Decimals:
Another way we can convert 90/42 into a percentage is to first convert 90/42 into a decimal. We can do this by simply dividing the numerator by the denominator:
90
42
=
2.143
\frac{90}{42} = 2.143
42 90 = 2.143
Once we have the answer, we can multiply the new decimal by 100 to get the percentage:
2.143 × 100 = 214.286
As you can see, we get the same answer as the first method and find that 90/42 as a percentage is 214.286%.
Now you know of two different ways to convert 90/42 into a percentage! While converting using a decimal takes fewer steps, you first need to master converting fractions into decimals. Try out both methods and see which one works best for you!
Practice more percentage problems!
Practice makes perfect so why not check out some of other problems where you can convert a fraction to a percentage?
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