Three spellings

Primary 6 Percentage study guide: the whole chapter, step by step

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So whichever one you're given, write it over one hundred first. The percentage and the decimal are both in that one line. In the lesson. So whichever one you're given, write it over one hundred first. The percentage and the decimal are both in that one line.

Lesson video, with the working

Three spellings

3 min 18 s

The film teaches 2 questions in turn. Each question shows first; its working is written as the film explains it.

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Today's question

Express 65% as a decimal.

  1. 65% written as a decimal is 0.65.

Ans: 0.65

Example 1

Express 0.4 as a percentage.

  1. 0.4 written as a percentage is 40%.

Ans: 40%

How to solve it
  1. Percent means out of one hundred, so cut one whole into one hundred equal parts and shade 65 of them.
  2. Write the shading as a fraction: 65 over one hundred.
  3. Write it as a decimal. The first place after the point is tenths and the second is hundredths, so it is zero point six five.
  4. The school way: one hundred has two zeros, so the point hops twice, and 65 becomes zero point six five.
  5. Going the other way, zero point four is 4 tenths, which is 4 rows of 10: 40 out of one hundred is 40 percent.

So whichever one you're given, write it over one hundred first. The percentage and the decimal are both in that one line.

Practice questions with worked solutions

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Question 1 of 7 · Basic · free to tryExpress 7/20 as a percentage.Express 7/20 as a percentage.

Express 7/20 as a percentage.

7 of the 20 parts shadedone whole in 20 equal parts
%

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Video solution · 49 s

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Working

  1. 7/20 = 35/100
  2. 35/100 = 35%

Answer: 35%

For parents

How do you solve percentage conversion questions in P6?

A percentage, a fraction and a decimal can name exactly the same amount.

What your child learns here

A percentage, a fraction and a decimal can name exactly the same amount. This page teaches your child to move between the three by writing the value out of 100 first, a step they will need in every later percentage question. It revises outcomes first met the year before and joins them to fractions written as decimals.

  • Express a decimal as a percentage, including decimals with tenths only, such as 0.4.
  • Express a fraction as a percentage, including eighths and fractions greater than 1.
  • Use place value to see that the second decimal place is hundredths, which is what percent counts.
  • Give answers such as 62.5% and 125% when the value needs them.
Does the answer make sense?

A fraction or decimal less than 1 must become a percentage under 100%, and one greater than 1, such as five quarters, must come out over 100%. Going the other way, your child should see that a percentage under 100% turns into a decimal smaller than 1, so 65% cannot be 6.5.

How to practise these questions

Basic questions train moving between fractions, decimals and percentages, including fractions above one whole and answers in simplest form. Challenge questions turn a mixed number into a percentage above 100, and compare values written in all three forms to put them in order. When the three spellings do not match up, read the written step-by-step solution together.

Questions parents ask

How do you change a fraction to a percentage? Write it as an equivalent fraction out of 100, or multiply it by 100%. One quarter is 25 over 100, so 25%, and three eighths times 100% is 37.5%.

Can a percentage be more than 100%? Yes. 100% is one whole, so an amount bigger than one whole, such as one and a half, is 150%. It comes up whenever an amount grows past the starting whole.

Is changing fractions into decimals in the syllabus? Yes. Expressing fractions as decimals is in the MOE syllabus the year before Primary 6, alongside expressing a part of a whole as a percentage. This page joins the two.