How do I compare fractions, decimals and percentages?

Part ofMaths and NumeracyFractions

Snoot, Fin and Plimble use fractions, decimals and percentages when fueling their saucer.

The gauge on a tank shows that 10 out of 100 means 10 percent.

What are percentages?

Per means out of. You might have seen cent as part of centimetre. A centimetre is one hundredth of a metre.

Percent means out of 100 and percentages are shown with the symbol %.

For example 10% is 10 out of 100.

The gauge on a tank shows that 10 out of 100 means 10 percent.
The gauge on a tank shows that ten percent is the same measure as one tenth.

Percentages are a bit like fractions with the number of percent on top and 100 underneath.

So 10% is the same as ¹⁰⁄₁₀₀.

You can sometimes make fractions easier to work with by dividing top and bottom by the same number.

10 and 100 both divide by 10, so ¹⁰⁄₁₀₀ = ¹⁄₁₀. That means 10% = ¹⁄₁₀

The gauge on a tank shows that ten percent is the same measure as one tenth.
The gauge on a tank shows that 10 percent, one tenth and 0.1 are all the same.

Decimals (or decimal fractions) are written using numbers and a dot.

Numbers to the left of the dot are whole numbers.

In 1.0 the 1 just means one.

Numbers to the right of the dot are parts (or fractions) of a number.

Numbers one space to the right of the dot are tenths.

For example:

0.1 is the same as ¹⁄₁₀

0.3 is the same as ³⁄₁₀

Numbers two spaces to the right of the dot are hundredths.

For example:

0.01 is the same as ¹⁄₁₀₀

0.07 is the same as ⁷/₁₀₀

The gauge on a tank shows that 10 percent, one tenth and 0.1 are all the same.

More on Fractions

Find out more by working through a topic