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Percentages, discounts and percent of total

Two keys cover most everyday percentages: % for a percentage of a number, and %T for a share of a total.

Problem

A $249.99 item is 20% off. What do you save and what do you pay? And if $480 of a $3,200 budget goes to software, what percentage is that?

Keystrokes

  1. 249.99ENTER
    249.99

    The price.

  2. 20%
    50.00

    20% of it: what you save.

  3. −
    199.99

    The price after the discount.

  4. 3200ENTER
    3,200.00

    The total budget.

  5. 480%T
    15.00

    The share that $480 is of it.

Answer

You save $50.00 and pay $199.99. $480 is 15.00% of $3,200.

Why it works

% works out a percentage of Y and leaves Y where it was. So − right after takes the discount off the price, and + would add tax or a markup instead.

%T divides X by Y and multiplies by 100, again leaving the total in Y, so you can work out the share of several items in turn.

Questions

How do I add 8.25% sales tax?

Key the price, ENTER, 8.25 %, then +.

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