Percentages of Amounts

In a Nutshell

"Per cent" means "out of 100". To find a percentage of an amount, divide by 100 then multiply.

Finding a percentage of an amount is one of the most useful skills in maths. The basic method has two steps:

\text{percentage of amount} = \frac{\text{percentage}}{100} \times \text{amount}

For many common percentages you can use shortcuts. To find 10%, divide by 10. To find 5%, halve your 10%. To find 1%, divide by 100. Then combine these building blocks.

The bar model below shows the percentage as a shaded proportion of the whole. Change the values to see different calculations.

Total amount Percentage

Try entering different amounts and percentages. Watch how the bar fills and the answer changes.

Watch it work

Question: Find $35\%$ of $240$ .

Have a go

Q1. Find $20\%$ of $150$ .

Q2. Find $15\%$ of $80$ .

Q3. Find $40\%$ of $350$ .

Q4. A jacket costs £60. There is a $25\%$ discount. How much is the discount?

Q5. Find $17.5\%$ of $400$ .