Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Calculating the gradient
• Method 2 of 2: Alternative Method
• Tips

In various situations it is useful to know how to calculate a gradient. Perhaps you want to calculate by what percentage the price of a certain product has increased when you are in the supermarket. It is also necessary to calculate the percentage increase first before you can perform more complex calculations, such as calculating the return on an investment. If you want to know how to quickly calculate a gradient, follow the steps below.

To step

Method 1 of 2: Calculating the gradient

1. Write down the current value and the initial value. For example, let's assume that you have received a letter from your car insurance company stating that the premium will go up for the coming year. Write these values ​​down:
   • Your auto insurance policy was "€ 400" before the increase. This is the initial value.
   • After the increase, it became "" € 450 "". This is the final value.
2. Determine the height of the propagation. Subtract the initial value from the current value to find out by how much it has increased. At this point we are still working with normal values, not percentages.
   • In our example, $ 450 - $ 400 = "" "an increase of $ 50" ".
3. Divide the result by the starting value. A percentage is just a special kind of fraction. For example, "5% of doctors" is a quick way to write down "5 out of 100 doctors". By dividing the answer by the initial value, we turn it into a fraction that compares the two values.
   • In our example, / _€400 = 0,125.
4. Multiply the result by 100. This way you can convert the number to a percentage.
   • The final answer to our example is 0.125 x 100 = 12.5% ​​increase in auto insurance premiums.

Method 2 of 2: Alternative Method

1. Write down the starting value and ending value. Let's start with a new example. The world population has grown from 5,300,000,000 people in 1990 to 7,400,000,000 in 2015.
   • There is a trick for these problems with many zeros. Instead of counting the zeros at each step, we can rewrite this as: 5.3 billion and 7.4 billion.
2. Divide the ending value by the starting value. This will tell us how much greater the final result is than the initial value.
   • 7.4 billion ÷ 5.3 billion = approx 1,4.
   • We rounded up to two major numbers because that was the number in the original problem.
3. Multiply by 100. This will give you the percentage comparison between the two values. If the value is increased (as opposed to decreased), your answer must always be greater than 100.
   • 1.4 x 100 = 140%. This means that the world population in 2015 is 140% of the population size in 1990.
4. Subtract 100. In this type of problem, "100%" is the initial value. Subtracting this from the answer leaves the percentage of growth.
   • 140% - 100% = a population growth of 40%.
   • This works because initial value + increment = final value. Change the equation and then we get increment = end value - start value.

Tips

• The increase as a percentage tells you the relative change, meaning how much it has grown in relation to the initial value. An increase of € 50 in the price of an egg is enormous relative growth. But increasing the price of a house by $ 50 is a very small relative increase.
• You can change the rate of reduction in exactly the same way. You then end up with a negative number, which shows that the amount has decreased.
• The size of the increase will also be the absolute called change, the actual amount described. An increase in the price of an egg of € 50 and an increase in the price of a house by € 50 have the same effect absolute value.