Questions on percentages on your standardized test will cover several topics.
For example, you may see questions on:
– determining the value of a percentage of a stated quantity
– calculating one quantity as a percentage of another
– using percentages to calculate increases or decreases
Percentage of a Quantity
(1) A baseball team had 35 games this season and won 80 percent of them. How many games did the team win?
A. 7
B. 10
C. 20
D. 28
E. 33
The word “of” in the question means that you have to multiply in this case.
Convert the percentage to a decimal and multiply.
35 × 80% = 35 × .80 = 28 games won
So, the correct answer is D.
(2) A football team had 50 games this season and lost 12 percent of them. How many games did the team win?
A. 6
B. 12
C. 44
D. 46
E. 48
You may need to do another operation, such as addition or subtraction, after you have performed the multiplication.
Convert the percentage to a decimal and multiply.
50 × 12% = 50 × .12 = 6 games lost
Then subtract in order to find the number of games won.
50 games in total − 6 games lost = 44 games won
So, the correct answer is C.
One Quantity as a Percentage of Another
(3) In a class of 32 students, four students are left-handed. What percentage of students in the class are left-handed?
A. 12.5%
B. 12%
C. 8%
D. 4%
E. Cannot be determined
Percentages like this are determined by dividing the subset into the total.
Four students are in the subset of left-handed students.
We have 32 students in total.
Accordingly, we divide as follows:
4 ÷ 32 = .125 = 12.5%
So, the correct answer is A.
Percentage Change
Questions in this category will involve using percentages in practical math problems.
You may need to use percentages to calculate increases or decreases in quantity or value, percentage discounts, price increases, or total prices including tax.
(4) Maria buys a pair of jeans on sale. The original price of the pair of jeans was $80. Maria got a 35% discount on the sale. What final price did Maria pay?
A. 28
B. 42
C. 52
D. 58
E. 68
First of all, you need to calculate the dollar value of the discount by taking the original price times the percentage of the discount.
$80 original price × 35% discount = $28 discount
Then, subtract the dollar value of the discount from the original price in order to determine the final price.
$80 original price − $28 discount = $52 final price
So, the correct answer is C.
(5) An airline has announced that the price of one of its flights will increase by 4% next year. If the price of the flight is $400 this year, what will the price of the flight be next year?
A. 384
B. 402
C. 404
D. 408
E. 416
Take the original price and multiply by the percentage increase in order to determine the price increase in dollars.
$400 × 4% = $400 ×.04 = $16 price increase
Then add the price increase to the original price to get the new price.
$400 + $16 = $416
So, the correct answer is E.
(6) A television costs $300 plus sales tax. If the sales tax rate in this state is 7%, what total will the customer have to pay for the television?
A. $301.70
B. $302.10
C. $307.00
D. $317.00
E. $321.00
Effectively, the total after tax is calculated in the same way as a price increase.
Take the price and multiply by the percentage of tax.
$300 × 7% = $300 × .07 = $21 tax
Then add the dollar amount of the tax to the price of the item in order to get the final total.
$300 + $21 = $321
So, the correct answer is E.