Write 2/5 as a percentage.

Step by step

The question

Question: write 2/5 as a percent.

1 Make the bottom 100

Percent means out of 100.

So we want a bottom of 100.

100 divided by 5 is 20.

So 5 times 20 is 100.

We multiply the top and the bottom by 20.

20/20 is 1, so the value stays the same.

2 times 20 is 40.

So we get 40/100.

Careful!

As a decimal, 2/5 is 0.4.

But 0.4% means 0.4 out of 100: far too small.

2 Write the percent

40 out of 100 is 40%.

3 Check

Let's check: go back.

40% is 40/100.

Divide the top and the bottom by 20.

We get 2/5.

So the answer is right!

Let's look back.

First: make the bottom 100.

Then: write the percent.

Last: check.