Convert 87% to a Fraction: Finding the Equivalent Over 100

Percent literally means "per hundred"! The word comes from Latin per centum. So $87\%$ means 87 out of every 100 parts.

Check if 87 and 100 share any common factors. Since 87 = 3 × 29 and 100 = 2² × 5², they share no common factors, so $\frac{87}{100}$ is already in lowest terms.

That's incorrect because fractions traditionally use whole numbers. While $\frac{8.7}{100}$ equals the same decimal value, the proper fraction form is $\frac{87}{100}$.

Simple pattern: Just drop the % sign and put that number over 100! Examples: $25\% = \frac{25}{100}$, $3\% = \frac{3}{100}$

They represent the same value in different forms! $87\% = \frac{87}{100} = 0.87$. Percentages, fractions, and decimals are just different ways to express the same number.