1. Percentage one number represents of another:
This is the most common scenario. Here, you want to know what part of a larger number (the whole) a smaller number (the part) makes up.
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Formula: (part / whole) * 100%
For example, if you have 20 apples and you want to know what percentage of them are red, and 12 of them are red, you would divide 12 by 20 to get 0.6, then multiply by 100 to get 60%. So, 60% of your apples are red.
2. Percentage difference between two numbers:
This scenario involves finding the relative difference between two numbers.
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Formula: ((absolute value of difference between numbers) / (average of the two numbers)) * 100%
Here, absolute value means you just consider the difference's magnitude, not whether it's positive or negative. For example, if you have exam scores of 80 and 90, the difference is 10. The average is (80 + 90) / 2 = 85. So, the percentage difference is ((10) / (85)) * 100% = 11.76%. This means your second score is 11.76% higher than the first score.
Let me know if you'd like some examples of calculating the percentage difference!