• MrShankles@reddthat.com
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    5 days ago

    Thank you! That’s pretty neat. I tried 27% of 65

    I added two 10% increments (6.5+6.5)… but instead of adding 0.65 (1%) seven more times, I added a 5% increment (6.5/2 = 3.25) and then 2 increments of 1%

    So 6.5+6.5+3.25+0.65+0.65 = 17.55

    I still had to use a calculator to add those weird numbers (and also check my work), but it does seem really practical for easier numbers. I usually need percentages for pricing (i.e. discounts/tipping), and the percentages are normally in increments of 5%, so that’s pretty useful for figuring out a 15% or 75% of something real quick… or at least get me really close (when talking about something like $X.99)

    Regardless, I appreciate the head trick!

    Edit: I guess I could’ve done 30% and then subtracted 1% twice; but it’s the same issue (of adding weird numbers) with the same outcome anyway. So thanks again!

    • griefreeze@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Another neat trick: X% of Y is equal to Y% of X. That is, in your example, 27% of 65 == 65% of 27. So check and see which combination might provide fewer steps/messy numbers.

      13.5 (50% of 27) + 2.7 (10% of 27) + 1.35 (5% of 27) = 17.55