eli5 The percentage rule

Question

Can someone explain how/why X% of Y is equal to Y% of X? I know it’s true but I can’t figure out why. Thanks!

In: 10

Answer 1

A “percent” means “out of 100”. So X% is is the same as X * 0.01
In math you learn something called the “commutative property of multiplication” which tells you that if you multiply a bunch of numbers together that the order you do the multiplication in doesn’t change the answer.
So X * 0.01 * Y = X * Y * 0.01

Answer 2

A “percent” means “out of 100”. So X% is is the same as X * 0.01
In math you learn something called the “commutative property of multiplication” which tells you that if you multiply a bunch of numbers together that the order you do the multiplication in doesn’t change the answer.
So X * 0.01 * Y = X * Y * 0.01