In home buying, one of the most important
math skills you will need is using percentages. We use percentages
every day.
When the weather report tells us there
is a 90 percent chance of snow, we may cancel a planned
trip. When our favorite store has a 50 percent-off sale,
we hurry in to get a good buy.
In home buying, the interest rate you
pay on a loan is given as a percentage. The amount of money
you put down when you buy a house is described by a percentage.
Lenders will decide how much you can afford to spend on
a house by looking at what percentage of your total income
will go to housing costs.
Learn how to use percentages for the first
time is not easy. Many students need a lot of practice to
learn this skill well. This page contains only a very short
lesson on how to read and write percentages. You may want
to ask for more help from a teacher
or friend. Look for a math textbook that can give you more
examples and practice activities using percentages.
All percentages start with a whole divided
into 100 equal parts. Instead of writing the words “of
100,” we use the sign % and call it “percent.”
So, if there is a 30 out of 100 chance of rain, we say there
is a 30% chance of rain. One hundred percent (100%) is always
equal to one whole thing. We see percentages used most often
when it comes to money. One hundred cents is equal to one
dollar. Five percent (5%) of a dollar is five cents.
Percentages are often described in a decimal
form, especially when we are talking about money. To change
a percentage to a decimal, you divide the number by 100.
For example:
5/100 = .05 or 5 percent
Here are the steps for changing a percentage
to a decimal:
1. Write the number,
but do not write the percent sign.
50
2. Put a decimal point
after the number.
50.
3. Move the decimal point
two places to the left.
(When you do this you are dividing by 100.)
.50
4. Read both numbers
aloud the same way.
50% =.50
Now try changing the following percentages
into decimals:
