. .

UNIT 2.20: PERCENTAGES, RATIO AND PROPORTION

. .

Objectives of this unit:.

After Studying this unit you should be able to

 Calculate percentages.
 Calculate percentage increase/ Decrease.
 To find the original quantity given the percentage increase/decrease and the
new quantity.

Definition:

 a percentage is a number or a ratio expressed in terms of fractions of 100. It

is denoted using the percentage sign “%”. Percent means per hundred.
 In other words, the percent or the percentage is defined as how much of one
quantity is made by the different quantity, and it is evaluated at about 100.

Remark 1.80:

Percent means per hundred or in hundred, examples of percentages.

(i) 7
100 reads as 7 percent
(ii) 10
100 reads as 10 percent.
 Usually the denominator 100 is not written instead the symbol % is used to
denote
1
100. Thus
7 = 7 × 1 = 7%
100. 100
 In any circumstance the total number of items being considered is taken as
100%. For example, if there are pupils in a class, this is considered as

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 100%. If 60% of these are girls then the percentage of boys is taken as 100%
- 60% = 40%.
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Changing a percentage to a Fraction. .
 To convert a percentage to a fraction, replace the symbol % by 1/100 then
simplify where possible.

Example 2.23: Express the following percentages as fractions

(i) 25%
(ii) 65%
(iii) 125%
(iv) 12½%

Solution:

(i) 25% = 25× 1

100
=. 25
100
= 1
4
(ii) 65% = 65 × 1
100
= 65
100
= 13
20
(iii) And (iv). Exercise

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 . .
CHANGING FRACTION TO PERCENTAGES
. .
 To change fractions to percentages multiply the fraction by 100% and
simplify.

Example 2.24

(i) ⅖
(ii) ⅒
(iii) ¼
(iv) ¾
(v) 4⅖

Solution

(i) ⅖ × 100% = 40%

(ii) ⅒ × 100% = 10%
(iii) ¼ × 100% = 25%
(iv) [Exercise]
(v) [Exercise]

. .

FINDING THE PERCENTAGE OF A GIVEN QUANTITY. .

 To find the percentage of a given quantity. Multiply the quantity by the

given percentage.

Example 2.25

(i) Find 20% of k600 000.

(ii) 25% of the sum of money is k800,000. Find the sum of money.

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 (iii) Evaluate 40% of 40 pupils.

Solution:

(i) = 20 × k600,000
100
= k120,000
(ii) Let sum of money be x kwacha, then
25% of x = k800,000
25 × x = k800,000
100
= 25x = k800,000
100
25x = 80000000
25. 25
X = 3200,000
(iii) Exercise.

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EXPRESSING A QUANTITY AS A PERCENTAGE. .

 To express a quantity M as a percentage of another quantity N. Divide m

by n then multiply the result by 100%.
M × 100%. Gives the result.
N
Example 2.26
(i) Express k5000 as a percentage of k20000
(ii) Express 15kg as a percentage of 60kg

Solution:

(i) = K5000. × 100%

K20000
= 1 × 100%
4
= 25%
(ii) Exercise.

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 [Tutorial Discussion]

(i) In a village, 40% of the population are children, 26% are men and the rest
are women . Find the percentage of women.
(ii) In a certain country, 58% of the population are unemployed, find the
percentage of people employed.
(iii) Change the following percentages to fractions
(a) 66½%
(b) 125%
(c) 14.5%
(iv) Express the following percentages as decimals.
(a) 200%
(b) 40.4%
(c) 85%
(v) Express the following as percentages.
(a) 0.6
(b) 1.2
(c) 4.80
(vi) Evaluate the following.
(a) 50% of k120000
(b) 2.5% of k100
(vii) Express each of the following quantity as a percentage of the second
quantity.
(a) 15cm, 30cm
(b) 110g, 0.22g
(viii) 60% of pupils in a school are boys. If there are 450 boys, find the number
of girls.
(ix) In a class of 40 pupils, 16 are girls. Express the number of girls as a
percentage of the total number of pupils.
(x) In a population of 540000, ⅓ are catholics, ¼ are pentecostals and the
rest belong to other sects, find.
(i) The number of catholics and pentecontals together.
(ii) The fraction of those who belong to other sects.
(iii) The percentage of those who belong to other sects.
(iv) The percentage of catholics.

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 The End: thank you for your attention.

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Increasing/ Decreasing a Quantity by a given percentage.

Definition:

 To increase a quantity by a given percentage , multiply the quantity by the

given percentage then Add or subtract the result from the original quantity.

Example 2.27:

(i) Increase k200,000 by 10%

(ii) Decrease k30,000 by 12%

Solution:

(i) = 10 × k200,000
100
= K20,000 is the 10% of k200,000
= K20,000 + k200,000
= k220,000 is the required amount

(ii) = 12. × K30,000

100
= K3,600 is the 12% of K30,000
= K30,000 – K3,600
= K26400 is the required amount

. .

To find the Original Quantity of given the percentage increase/Decrease. .

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Example 2.28:

(i) After an increase of 15%, the price if an article is k920000, what was the
price of an article before the increase.
(ii) A firm increases the salaries of its employees by 12%, find?
(a) The new salary of an employee who earns K2000,000
(b) The previous salary if an employee who earns k15,000,000

Solutions:

(i) Let x represent the price of an article before increase . Now

x+ 15% of x = K920,000
x+15x. = K920,000
. 100
100(. x + 15x = k920,000)
. 100
100x + 15x = k92,000,000
115x = k92,000,000
115. 115
x=K800,000 was the original price of an article before increase

(ii) [Exercise]

[Tutorial Discussion]
1. Increase the following quantities by given percentages.
(a) K500,000 by 50%
(b) 15kg by 80%
2. Decrease the following quantities by given percentages.
(a) K3000 by 10%
(b) 72 by 60%
3. A school has 1200 pupils. If 300 pupils graduate from the school,
find?
(a) The percentage of pupils who graduated.
(b) The percentage of pupils remaining in the school.

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 4. After 25% discount , the price of a TV set is K1,500,000, what wax
the original price.
5. The population of a school is increased from 400 to 450, what is the
increase?
6. A trader offers a 5% discount on all marked prices, find ?
(a) How much a customer pays for an article marked k250,000
(b) The marked price of an article sold at k665,000.

The End: Thank you for your Attention.

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