Video Transcript
What fraction of a number is equivalent to 50 percent? Is it (A) a half, (B) a fifth, (C) four-fifths, or (D) five-sevenths?
The four fractions can be written as shown. A half is one over two; a fifth, one over five; four-fifths, four over five; and five-sevenths, five over seven. We need to identify which of these is equal to 50 percent. We recall that the word percent means out of 100. 50 percent can therefore be written as a fraction as 50 over 100. This can be simplified by dividing the numerator and denominator by the same value.
We might notice that both 50 and 100 are divisible by 10. Therefore, 50 over 100 is the same as five over 10. Both of these numbers are divisible by five. Therefore, five over 10 is the same as one over two. The fraction that is equivalent to 50 percent is one-half. We could’ve gone straight from 50 over 100 to one over two by dividing the numerator and denominator by 50. Either way, we would get a final answer that 50 percent is the same as one-half.
