Page 80 - Movement Challenge

Percentages, Fractions, &

Decimals

A percent is a ratio that compares a number to 100 using division. You can express percents
as fractions and decimals by dividing by 100.

For example: 65% = 65÷100 or 65/100

Provide the following example for the students before they begin trying to convert percents to
fractions on their own: If I was working with a velocity of 65%, I would express this percent as
a fraction by writing 65/100.

Then, ask your students to choose a velocity that they have been working with and take a
few moments to write that velocity as a fraction instead of a percent in their engineering
notebooks. The students should write the velocity that they have been using over 100.
Students may also reduce fractions as they see fit. For example, 60% written as a fraction is
60/100. This is the same as 30/50 or ⅗.

Percents can also be written as decimals. Decimals are written using the scale of 10 (tenths,
hundredths, thousandths). Decimals are commonly used to represent a whole number plus a
fraction.