成人快手

How to decrease an amount by a percentage

Part of MathsPercentages

Key points

  • An amount can be decreased by a in different ways:

    • By working out the decrease and subtracting it from the original value.

    • By considering the resulting overall percentage and using a .

  • To be able to decrease an amount by a percentage, you need to be able to work out percentages of an amount, convert percentages to decimals and decimals to percentages.

  • Identifying multipliers is a useful technique to use for this method. Processing calculations in one step can save time.

Back to top

Calculate the percentage decrease and subtract from original amount

To decrease an amount by a given percentage:

  1. Work out the percentage of the amount. There are different ways to do this, choose your preferred method:

a. Combining other percentages. For example, 20% is two lots of 10%

b. Using equivalent fractions. For example 20% is the same as 1鈦5

c. Using a calculator. For example to work out 20% divide 20 by 100 and multiply by the amount.

  1. Subtract from the original amount.

Examples

Skip image gallery
  1. Written: Decrease sixty by twenty percent. Below: A bar shaded orange 鈥 labelled sixty. A bar split in five blocks with the one shaded purple and labelled twenty percent of sixty. The final bar is the first orange bar with a section the size of the purple block cut off the end.

    To decrease 60 by 20%, work out 20% of 60, then subtract it from the original amount (60)

Question

Decrease 50 by 30%

Back to top

How to decrease an amount by a percentage using a multiplier

To decrease an amount by a percentage using a :

  1. The original amount is 100%.

  2. Subtract the percentage the amount is being decreased by to get the remaining percentage.

  3. Convert the remaining percentage value to a decimal by dividing by 100. This is the multiplier.

  4. Multiply the original amount by the multiplier.

Examples

Skip image gallery
  1. Example 1: Decrease sixty by twenty percent.

    Decrease 60 by 20%

Question

Decrease 800 by 24%

Back to top

Practise how to decrease an amount by a percentage

Practise how to decrease an amount by a percentage in this quiz.

Quiz

Back to top

Real-world maths

A white person tying their shoelaces on a pair of black trainers
The discount on a pair of trainers gives the actual saving. Subtracting the discount from the original price gives the sale price.

As part of a membership to a leisure centre, members are able to get a percentage discount at a sports shop. The price a member has to pay will be the original price decreased by a percentage. For example, if the discount is 20%, a pair of trainers priced at 拢90 will be 拢72 (100% 鈥 20% = 90 鈥 18)

Healthy eating and drinking trends have led to many food companies reducing the sugar content in their products by a percentage. This enables them to produce healthier products and retain their sales.

A white person tying their shoelaces on a pair of black trainers
The discount on a pair of trainers gives the actual saving. Subtracting the discount from the original price gives the sale price.
Back to top

Game - Divided Islands

Using your maths skills, help to build bridges and bring light back to the islands in this free game from 成人快手 Bitesize.

Play the Divided Islands game!
Back to top

More on Percentages

Find out more by working through a topic