Compare Percentages and Decimals Worksheets
Understanding how to compare values that are in different formats is common skill students will come across at the middle school level. The task at hand is very helpful to engage our minds in an algebraic manner. When we can start thinking of percentages and decimals as nothing more than a value of something, we can truly start to make the leap towards better understanding our world through math. Ever go into a department store and wonder who is having a better sale or which deal is the best? This is the math that holds the answer to that for you. These worksheets and lessons have students learn to look for differences in percentage and decimal values.
Aligned Standard: 7.RP.A.3
- Step By Step Lesson- We focus on the conversion from percents to decimal form.
- Guided Lesson - We seem to always be looking for the greater value here.
- Guided Lesson Explanation - They are basically two line explanations.
- Comparing Decimals and Percentages Worksheet 1 - Tell us which of the choices is worth more.
- Compare Them Again - Watch those percentages that go over a hundred. They will confuse you sometimes.
- Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.
Homework Sheets
A nice helping of work for you to chew on.
- Homework 1 - Compare the given percents and write which one is more.
- Homework 2 - When comparing values, you just need to get the values in the form.
- Homework 3 - In this case, we have values in decimal and percentage form. Let's compare them in each form.
Practice Worksheets
The practice sheets give you time to think it through them.
- Practice 1 - Convert all the values to the same format.
- Practice 2 - I prefer to convert decimals to percentages, because all that you need to do is multiply by 100 and add a percentage symbol.
- Practice 3 - You can go in either direction neither matters much.
Math Skill Quizzes
Let's see if we can see how much we truly understand.
- Quiz 1 - Let's see what you know and go from there.
- Quiz 2 - I wish I could go for what you wanted to go for.
How to Compare Percentages and Decimals
Percentages and decimals are just an easier yet different way of writing down the same values. They are like ratios defining the proportion and quantity of something. If percentages and decimals are something that confuses your head a lot, let's learn to understand how we can compare both of these.
Percentages - as the 'per ' name implies means “out of”. To be more specific it distinctly means out of 100, and they are denoted by the sign %. Percentages are more like fractions with numerator on the top and the number 100th underneath (denominator). For example, the percentage of 10% can be written as 10/100. Simplify it, and you will get 1/10. So basically, any percentage that you come across can just be placed over 100. From that fraction you can just do the math divide the top by the bottom to determine the decimal value of that original percentage.
On the other hand, numbers having decimals are written using a dot. They can also be referred to as decimals fractions; however, the numbers that come to the left of a decimal number are whole numbers. They are not decimal numbers. On the contrary, numbers to the right of the decimal are decimal numbers or fractions. For example: 0.4 is the same as 4/10 | 0.08 is the same as 8/100.
Now that we understand the two forms that values can come in, how do we prepare to compare values in these formats? That is a great deal simpler than it sounds. All you need to do is get them in the same form. I would suggest getting the values in decimal form since it is one the easier transitions for most values. Once you have them in the same format, simply compare them. The comparison should first look to see if they are equivalent, if they are, make a math statement using the equals (=) symbol. If they are not equal use an arrow (either > or <) and point the arrow to the smaller value in your math sentence. This symbol (>) indicates greater than when you vocalize the symbolize. This symbol (<) indicates a less than statement.