18/600 = 3%
A value like 18/600, or 3%, can show up in everyday situations such as a store discount, a survey result, or a small number of defective products in a shipment. For example, if 18 items out of 600 are damaged, the company might describe the damage rate as 3%.
You can picture 3% as 3 out of every 100 items. It is a small amount—about one person in a group of 33, or roughly three shaded spots in a grid of 100 equal squares.
A common mistake is thinking that 3% means 3 out of 10 because the number 3 feels large when written alone. The percent sign means “out of 100,” so 3% represents a much smaller share than 30%.
