When you turn the fraction 40/98 into a percentage, you get 40.82%. This tells you that the fraction is a little less than half of a whole.
The fraction 40/98 can be reduced to 20/49, but the value stays the same. Whether you write it as 40/98, 20/49, or 40.82%, each form represents the identical portion of the whole.
Knowing the percentage makes it easy to compare this amount with other data. For example, if a survey shows that 40.82% of people prefer a certain product, you can quickly see it’s not a majority, but it’s close to one‑third of the total responses.
