The answer is 8.
To find 20% of 40, we can follow these steps:
Understand the Percentage: The word 'percent' means 'per hundred'. So, when we are looking for 20% of a number, we are looking for 20 per every 100 units of that number.
Convert Percentage to Decimal: To make the calculation easier, we convert the percentage to a decimal. To do this, we divide the percentage by 100. Thus, 20% becomes 0.20.
$$ \text{Decimal form of 20%} = \frac{20}{100} = 0.20 $$
Multiply by the Number: Now, we multiply the decimal form of the percentage by the number we want to find the percentage of. In this case, it's 40.
$$ 0.20 \times 40 $$
Perform the Calculation: Carry out the multiplication.
$$ 0.20 \times 40 = 8 $$
Conclusion: Therefore, 20% of 40 is 8.
To ensure the answer is correct, we can check the calculation:
Percentages: Percentages are a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100. They are widely used in various fields, such as finance, statistics, and general mathematics.
Decimal Conversion: Converting a percentage to a decimal is a crucial step in percentage calculations and is done by dividing the percentage by 100.
Multiplication: Multiplication is one of the basic operations in arithmetic. When we multiply a decimal by a whole number, we are essentially finding a portion of the whole number.
Checking Work: It's always good practice to check your work in mathematics. By using related knowledge (like knowing what 10% of a number is), we can quickly verify our results.
In conclusion, understanding how to calculate percentages is a fundamental math skill that can be applied in various real-world situations. By converting percentages to decimals and multiplying by the number in question, we can easily find the required percentage of any given number.