About Percent to Fraction
Fractions, decimals and percentages describe the same thing in three different languages: a share of a whole. School marks and discounts use percentages, measurements and money use decimals, and recipes, spanners and shares of ownership stay in fractions.
This page converts percents to fractions and shows the working, so the method is clear the next time you have to do it on paper. Mixed numbers such as 1 1/2 are accepted, and repeating decimals are matched to the closest simple fraction rather than left as a long string of digits.
How it works
A fraction, a decimal and a percentage are three ways of writing the same quantity. Turning percents into fractions takes three steps:
- Write the percentage over 100.
- Simplify by the greatest common divisor.
- For decimal percentages, clear the decimal first: 12.5% becomes 125/1000, then 1/8.
Going the other way is Fraction to Percent.
Examples
Worked examples:
- 25% → 25/100 → 1/4
- 12.5% → 125/1000 → 1/8
- 80% → 80/100 → 4/5
| Fraction | Decimal | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 | 0.5 | 50% |
| 1/3 | 0.333… | 33.33% |
| 2/3 | 0.666… | 66.67% |
| 1/4 | 0.25 | 25% |
| 3/4 | 0.75 | 75% |
| 1/5 | 0.2 | 20% |
| 1/8 | 0.125 | 12.5% |
| 3/8 | 0.375 | 37.5% |
| 5/8 | 0.625 | 62.5% |
| 1/10 | 0.1 | 10% |
| 1/16 | 0.0625 | 6.25% |
Percent to Fraction: frequently asked questions
- How do you convert a percent to a fraction?
- Put the number over 100 and reduce: 75% = 75/100 = 3/4. For decimals like 12.5%, write 12.5/100 = 125/1000 = 1/8.
- What is 20% as a fraction?
- 20% = 20/100 = 1/5.
- What is 33⅓% as a fraction?
- 33⅓% = 1/3.