The use of percentages is a way of expressing ratios in terms of whole numbers. A ratio or fraction is converted to a percentage by multiplying by 100 and appending a "percentage sign" %. For example, if an investment grows from to , then is times as much as , i.e., 173.08% of . So it is also true that the investment has grown by . A change of a certain percent is sometimes said to be a change of percentage points.

Bringhurst, R. The Elements of Typographic Style, 2nd ed. Point Roberts, WA: Hartley and Marks, p. 282, 1997.

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Weisstein, Eric W. "Percent." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Percent.html