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How to Divide Percentages for Tests

Dividing percentages by one another may seem a daunting task when you first consider it. Neither figure is an integer, and in most cases both numbers are less than one, meaning that your end result will be greater than either of the two numbers with which you started. It is important to remember, however, that percentages can also be expressed as fractions, and that dividing fractions by one another is as simple as flipping the second one around and multiplying them.

Things You'll Need

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Instructions

    • 1

      Convert both percentages to fractions. This is done by making the two percentages into the numerators of the fractions and giving them both denominators of 100. Assume a test question asks you to divide 50 percent by 10 percent. Your two percentages can be expressed as 50/100 and 10/100.

    • 2

      Simplify your two fractions, if possible, to make calculations easier. Your two fractions in the example can be expressed as 1/2 and 1/10.

    • 3

      Switch the numerator and the denominator of the second fraction to get its reciprocal. In the example, the reciprocal of 1/10 is 10/1.

    • 4

      Multiply the numerators and denominators of your two new fractions together. In the example, 1 * 10 = 10 and 2 * 1 = 2, yielding a product of 10/2.

    • 5

      Simplify your product, if it is possible to do so. In the example, 10/2 produces a final answer of 5.

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