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How to Convert Percent to
Decimal in 2 Easy Steps
September 19, 2024
How to Convert
Percent to
Decimal in 2
Easy Steps
Math Skills: How Do You
Convert a Percent to
Decimal?
Free Step-by-Step Guide: How to Convert Percent to
Decimal
Every math student must learn and understand
how to convert percent to decimal. This simple
math skill has tons of practical applications both
inside the classroom and in real life as well.
In this free guide to How to Convert Percent to
Decimal, you will learn an easy two-step method
for converting any percent into a decimal. Once
you learn how to apply the two-steps, you will be
able to quickly and accurately turn percents to
decimals. The guide covers the following
subtopics, and you can use the quick-links below
to jump to a section of interest if you wish:
• How to Convert a Percent to Decimal
• Percent to Decimal Example #1 (40%)
• Percent to Decimal Example #2 (79%)
• Percent to Decimal Example #3 (3%)
• Percent to Decimal Example #4 (6.2%)
• Percent to Decimal Example #5 (115%)
Once you work through the examples in this
guide, you will have a strong understanding of
how to turn percent to decimal in a variety of
cases.
Are you ready to get started?
Lesson Preview: How to Convert Percent to
Decimal Explained
How to Convert
Percent to Decimal
We will begin this guide to converting percents
into decimals by reviewing a few important
vocabulary terms in reference to percentages
and decimals.
Definition: In math, a percentage (or a percent)
is a value or number that can be expressed as a
fraction with where the denominator is 100. For
example, 25% is equivalent to the fraction 25/100.
Definition: In math, a decimal is a value that
represents a whole number with a fractional part.
The fractional part will always have a
denominator that is equal to 10 or a multiple of
10. For example, the decimal 0.8 is equal to the
fraction 8/10.
Percents and decimals have a proportional
relationship and they both can be used to
represent a value. Whether you choose to express
values as percents or as decimals often depends
on the situation. Sometimes, it makes more
sense to represent values as percents, and other
times it is more useful to express values in
decimal form. Given this relationship between
percents and decimals, it is incredibly useful for
you to be able to quickly and accurately convert
between the two, especially converting a percent
to decimal.
Figure 01: How to Convert Percent to Decimal: 85%
converted to a decimal is 0.85
How to Convert Percent to Decimal in 2 Steps
Now that we have reviewed the key vocabulary
terms and relationships related to percents and
decimals, we are ready to learn how to turn
percent to decimal by following two simple steps:
• Step One: Rewrite the percent without the
% symbol
• Step Two: Add a decimal point (if there
isn’t one already) and shift it two places to
the left
If you can learn how to apply these two simple
step s, you will be able to successfully convert any
percent into a decimal number.
For example, let’s apply these two steps to
converting 85% into a decimal number.
Step One: Rewrite the percent without the %
symbol
For the first step, we simply have to take the
percentage value and rewrite it without the %
symbol as follows:
• 85% → 85
Now we can move onto Step Two.
Step Two: Add a decimal point (if there isn’t
one already) and shift it two places to the left
For the second step, we have to see if the result
from Step One has a decimal point. If it doesn’t
already have one, we have to add one. Then, we
just have to take that decimal point and shift it
two units to the left as follows:
• 85 → 85.0
• 85.0 → .85 → 0.85
Final Answer: 85% = 0.85
That’s all that there is to it!
Figure 02: You can convert a percent to decimal by
shifting the decimal place two places to the left.
Ready to gain some more experience with using
our two-step method for how to turn percent to
decimal? Let’s move onto the next section where
we will work through five different examples.
How Do You
Convert a
Percent to
Decimal?
Convert Percent to
Decimal Example #1
Example: Convert 40% to a decimal.
For Example #1, we have to convert 40% to a
decimal number. We can solve this problem by
following our two-step method as follows:
Step One: Rewrite the percent without the %
symbol
We can complete Step One by rewriting 40%
without a percentage symbol as follows:
• 40% → 40
Step Two: Add a decimal point (if there isn’t
one already) and shift it two places to the left
Since our result from Step One, 40, doesn’t have a
decimal point, we have to add one and then
move it two places to the left as follows:
• 40 → 40.0
• 40.0 → .4 → 0.4
Final Answer: 40% = 0.4
We have now solved the first example and we
can say that 40% is equal to 0.4.
Figure 03 below illustrates how we used our two-
step method to solve this first problem.
Figure 03: How to Convert Percent to Decimal: 40% = 0.4
Are you ready to try another example?
Convert Percent to
Decimal Example #2
Example: Convert 79% to a decimal.
For this next example, we can again use our two-
step method for converting percents to decimals
as follows:
Step One: Rewrite the percent without the %
symbol
Just like the last example, we start off by
rewriting the percent value without the % symbol
as follows:
• 79% → 79
Step Two: Add a decimal point (if there isn’t
one already) and shift it two places to the left
Since 79 does not have a decimal point, we have
to add one and then shift it to the left two places.
• 79 → 79.0
• 79.0 → .79 → 0.79
Final Answer: 79% = 0.79
So, we can conclude that 79% is equal to 0.79.
Figure 04 displays how we solved Example #2.
Figure 04: How do you convert a percent to decimal?
Convert Percent to
Decimal Example #3
Example: Convert 3% to a decimal.
Are you starting to get the hang of it? Let’s move
onto to this third example, where we have to
convert 3% into a decimal value.
Step One: Rewrite the percent without the %
symbol
Start off by rewriting 3% without the percentage
symbol:
• 3% → 3
Step Two: Add a decimal point (if there isn’t
one already) and shift it two places to the left
3%=0.03
Next, we have to add a decimal point and then
shift it two places to the left as follows:
• 3 → 3.0
• 3.0 → .03 → 0.03
Final Answer: 3% = 0.03
Finally, we can conclude that 3% is equal to 0.03.
The entire step-by-step process for converting
this percent to decimal is shown in Figure 05
below.
Figure 05: How to Turn Percent to Decimal: 3% = 0.03
Convert Percent to
Decimal Example #4
Example: Convert 6.2% to a decimal.
For this fourth example, we are dealing with a
percentage that includes a decimal. Luckily, we
can still use our two-step method to convert to
percent to a decimal.
Step One: Rewrite the percent without the %
symbol
Just like the previous examples, our first step is to
rewrite the percent without the % sign.
• 6.2% → 6.2
Step Two: Add a decimal point (if there isn’t
one already) and shift it two places to the left
6% = 0.062
In this case, we don’t have to add a decimal
because there already is one (between 6 and 2 in
6.2). So, we just have to take that decimal point
and shift it two places to the left as follows:
• 6.2 → .062 → 0.062
Final Answer: 6.2% = 0.062
The entire step-by-step process for converting
this percent to decimal is shown in Figure 06
below.
Figure 06: How to Convert Percent to Decimal Example
#4
Convert Percent to
Decimal Example #5
Example: Convert 115% to a decimal.
For our fifth and final example, we have to
convert a percent that is great than 100% into a
decimal. Even in situations like, we can still use
our two-step method to accurately convert the
percent to decimal.
Step One: Rewrite the percent without the %
symbol
Just like all of the previous examples, we start out
by rewriting 115% without the percent symbol as
follows:
• 115% → 115
Step Two: Add a decimal point (if there isn’t
one already) and shift it two places to the left
115% = 1.15
To complete Step Two, we just have to add a
decimal point at the end 115 and then shift it two
places to the left as follows:
• 115 → 115.0
• 115.0 → 1.150 → 1.15
Note that we don’t have to include the zero at the
end of 1.150 and we can conclude that:
Final Answer: 115% = 1.15
All of the steps that were followed to complete
this last example are shown in Figure 07 below.
Figure 07: How to convert percent to decimal when the
percent is greater than 100.
Conclusion: How to Convert
Percent to Decimal
Being able to quickly and accurately convert a
percent to a decimal is an important and useful
math skill that every student must master.
You can successfully convert any percent into a
decimal by following two simple steps:
• Step One: Rewrite the percent without the
% symbol
• Step Two: Add a decimal point (if there
isn’t one already) and shift it two places to
the left
In this guide on how to turn percent to decimal,
we worked through five step-by-step examples
where we made the following conversions:
• 40% = 0.4
• 79% = 0.79
• 3% = 0.03
• 6.2% = 0.062
• 115% = 1.15
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