{"id":110,"date":"2022-08-30T11:48:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T11:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grockit.com\/gmat\/?p=110"},"modified":"2022-08-30T16:49:16","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T16:49:16","slug":"gmat-quantitative-fractions-and-percents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/gmat\/gmat-quantitative-fractions-and-percents\/","title":{"rendered":"GMAT Quantitative: Fractions and Percents"},"content":{"rendered":"

You’ll likely see several questions relating to fractions and percents in the Problem Solving portion of the GMAT Quantitative section<\/a>. Instead of letting these questions trip you up because of how complicated they look, take a look at the following examples and practice questions to gain confidence\u00a0on this type of problem.
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GMAT Quantitative Topics: Fractions<\/h2>
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\nFirst, understand that dividing by 5 is the same as multiplying by 2\/10. For example:
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\n840\/5 = ?<\/p>\n

840\/5 = 840*(2\/10) = 84*2 = 168<\/p>\n

Multiplying or dividing by 10\u2019s and 2\u2019s is generally easier than using 5\u2019s.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>
\nSecond, begin to start memorizing commong fractions.<\/p>\n

90% of the time, fractions will be easier to perform than arithmetic. Decimals are sometimes more useful when comparing numbers relative to one another, such as in a number line, but these questions are the exception. Even if given a decimal (or percent) looks easy, quickly convert to a fraction. For example:
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\n1\/9 = 0.111 repeating<\/p>\n

1\/8 = 0.125<\/p>\n

1\/7 = ~0.14<\/p>\n

1\/6 = 0.166 repeating<\/p>\n

1\/5 = 0.20<\/p>\n

1\/4 = 0.25<\/p>\n

1\/3 = 0.333 repeating<\/p>\n

1\/2 = 0.5 repeating<\/p>\n

Note: Multiples of these, such as 3\/8 (0.375) are also important to remember, but can easily be derived by multiplying the original fraction (1\/8 * 3 = 3\/8 = 0.125 * 3 = 0.375)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>
\nDenominators are super important. A denominator of a reduced fraction with a multiple of 7 will not have a finite decimal, for example. Keep in mind what you can logically combine, and what you cannot.<\/p>\n

This list is by no means extensive. There are many many more shortcuts, but generally practice and familiarity with the numbers helps a lot in doing quick arithmetic.<\/p>\n

Converting Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages on the GMAT<\/h2>
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\nFractions, decimals and percents are different ways of expressing the same value.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how to convert them from one form to another.
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Converting decimals to fractions on the GMAT<\/h3>
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\nFor any decimal, you should be able to figure what the last place in your decimal is.\u00a0 For example, .125 has digits in the tenths\u2019, hundredths\u2019 and thousandths\u2019 place.\u00a0 Thus, .125 is essentially 125 thousandths which translates to 125\/1000.
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Converting decimals to percentages on the GMAT<\/h3>
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\nPercent literally means \u201cover 100\u201d.\u00a0 i.e. x% = x\/100.<\/p>\n

So if you want to find what percent 12.5 is, you are trying to find x in this equation.<\/p>\n

If you rearrange the equation to isolate x on one side, you\u2019ll see that to find x, you just need to multiply your decimal by 100.<\/p>\n

Thus, in this case, 12.5 = 1250%
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Converting fractions to decimals on the GMAT<\/h3>
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\nConverting any fraction to a decimal involves long division.\u00a0 A fraction is essentially the numerator divided by the denominator.\u00a0 Thus 3\/5 is simply 3 divided by 5, which you can work out by long division to be 0.6<\/p>\n

Of course the GMAT is not going to use such as fractions, so be sure to know how to do long division!
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Converting fractions to percents on the GMAT<\/h3>
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\nAs mentioned earlier, x% is x\/100 \u2013 meaning that it is a fraction with 100 as the denominator.\u00a0 So to find out what percent a fraction is, you need to manipulate the fraction you have to have 100 in the denominator and the numerator will be the percentage.<\/p>\n

Suppose we need to convert \u00a075\/200 into its percentage form.\u00a0 You need to convert it to an equivalent fraction with 100 as the denominator and find the numerator.<\/p>\n

Thus, you are solving. (Solve this on your own and see if you get 37.5%)
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Converting percents to fractions on the GMAT<\/h3>
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\nThis one is very easy and you should know by now that x% is x\/100.\u00a0 Thus if you wanted to convert 320% to a fraction, \u00a0it would be 320\/100 which you can simplify to be 32.
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Converting percents to decimals on the GMAT<\/h3>
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\nFrom earlier, we learned that to convert decimals to percents, we multiplied the decimal by 100.\u00a0 To do the reverse (i.e. convert percents to decimals) we do the opposite \u2013 divide by 100.<\/p>\n

GMAT Quantitative Topics: Percents<\/h2>
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\nNow let’s\u00a0discuss some common problems students encounter with percent problems, which can come in a variety of formats. Here are some quick pointers:
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