Mathematics Shortcuts: Percentage (Part 2)

Mathematics Shortcuts: Percentage (Part 2)

Greetings Aspirants,

In the previous article, we discussed how to calculate basic percentage problems mentally. In this article, we will go one notch higher to solve some genuine percentage problems.

Note: There is always a basic approach while solving a question. This article is more about learning a quicker approach.

Alright, before we begin let’s recall what we know so far. Percent (Per-cent) means “out of 100” or “Per 100”. It is a way to express a part-to-whole relationship i.e. “How many parts or portions you’ve got out of a whole thing”. For Example, if you say that you have finished 1/3^rd of your work then it means that you have finished 33% of your work. (How?)

1/3 = 33.33/100

We also learned that 50%, 10%, 5%, 1% of a value is always easier to calculate. For example, if we are to calculate 6% of 120.

Now, we can calculate it using basics too but in case you are willing to calculate it in your head, you do it as follows:

6% of 120 = 5% of 120 + 1% of 120

5% of 120 = half of 10% of 120 = half of 12 = 6

1% of 120 = 1.2

Hence, 6% of 120 = 6 + 1.2 = 7.2

Moving on, in this article we will discuss a formula that can solve various types of problems on percentage.

This single formula can solve a wide variety of problems that too in seconds.

1. If A is R% more than B, then B is less than A by   %

2. If A is R% less than B, then B is more than A by  %

3. If the price of a commodity increases by R%, then the reduction in consumption so as not to increase the expenditure is  %.

4. If the price of a commodity decreases by R%, then the increase in consumption so as not to decrease the expenditure is  %

Read the previous article: Mathematics Shortcuts: Percentage (Part 1)

Hope this was helpful.

All the best,

OT Team