What is 42/74 as a percentage? It is 56.76%.
The fraction 42/74 can be reduced a little, but it is already close to the simple form 21/37. That means it is a little more than half, which matches the percentage we see. When you look at it on a chart or a pizza, you would see a little more than half of the whole.
Knowing that 42 out of 74 is 56.76% helps you compare it quickly with other numbers. For example, if you scored 42 points out of a possible 74 on a test, you would have earned about 57 % of the total points. This makes it easy to understand how well you did without doing any extra math.