Topic: Mental Math B2.3 – Exploring Percents

Ontario Curriculum Expectation:

6.B2.3 use mental math strategies to calculate percents of whole numbers, including 1%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 25%, and 50%, and explain the strategies used

Fractions and decimals are used to calculate a percent.

1/10 = 10%              1/4  = 25%             1/2   = 50%             3/4   = 75%                1 = 100%

For Example:

4% of 500 can be seen as 0.04, or 4 × 1%. 

1% of 500 is 5, so 4 × 1% is 4 × 5 = 20.

50% of 500 is half of 500, or 250. 

25% is half of 50%, so half of 500 is half of 250, or 125.