What is the percentage difference of the height of these two buildings?
Percentage is a useful way to highlight differences between any two things. You must first calculate the average quantity of the values then describe the percentage difference objects are from the average. When you have two values that share the same units, such as feet or pounds, calculating the percentage difference between them provides a clear, quantifiable understanding of how they differ. Now you can tell your friend that you are 20 percent taller than she is, and know exactly what that means.
Instructions
1. Determine the difference in two values by subtracting the smaller value from the larger. For example, the difference between the height of a 150-foot building and a 100-foot building is 50 feet.
2. Divide this number by the average of the two numbers. To determine the average, add the two numbers together and divide by two. For example, the height of the two buildings totals 250 feet. Divided by 2 to get 125. Divide the difference, 50, by the average, 125, making 0.4.
3. Multiply this value by 100 to get the percentage difference between the two values. For example, 0.4 multiplied by 100 gives us a difference of 40 percent. Therefore, the first building is 40 percent bigger than the second, or the second is 40 percent smaller than the first.
Tags: percentage difference, difference between, average numbers, percentage difference between