What should we do if we find two or more of these forms mixed together in a sentence or a math problem? That's like comparing apples and oranges and dragonfruits, isn't it?
Don't sweat it. Just use deodorant and convert! We can use whatever form is easiest at the moment—percents, fractions, or decimals.
Say we're asked to write these values in order from least to greatest: 
, 0.72, and 43%. To do that, we first need to write them all in the same format.
It's as hard to compare fractions to decimals as it is to compare apples to grapefruit. So let's convert each number to a decimal and then compare them.
0.72 = 0.72
43% = 0.43 (after moving the decimal left by two places)
Now we can see that the smallest value is 0.43 or 43%. The next is 0.72, and the largest is 0.75 or 
.
We can technically convert all three numbers into whatever form we want, but it's usually easiest to turn them all into decimals. Just FYI.
Working with Percents, Fractions & Decimals Example 1
Which is larger: 0.722 or 73%? |
Working with Percents, Fractions & Decimals Example 2
Order the following from least to greatest:
|
, 0.3, 
, 28%
Working with Percents, Fractions & Decimals Example 3
75% of all statistics are made up on the spot. If |
of the articles in today's paper had statistics, what percent of the total articles had statistics that were made up?
.
?
or 40%?
, 0.04, 45%, 