What is 50 Percent of 42?
50% of 42 = 21
- Result
- 21
- Remaining
- 21
- 50% as decimal
- 0.5
- 42 + 50%
- 63
Sumwise · Checked by Theo Abbott · Data: exact arithmetic; unit definitions from NIST SP 811 · Updated · How we check it
How to work it out
- Turn the percentage into a decimal: 50 ÷ 100 = 0.5
- Multiply: 0.5 × 42 = 21
- Check: Work backwards: 21 ÷ 42 × 100 = 50%.
Another method. As a proportion of part to whole: 50/100 = part/42, so part = 50 × 42 ÷ 100 = 21. Both methods always give the same answer.
In a spreadsheet: =50%*42. Forgetting to divide the percentage by 100 makes the answer 100 times too big. Note that x% of y always equals y% of x.
What the result means
21 is the 50% share of 42. The remaining 50% is 21, and the two parts add back up to 42.
Discounts: 50% off an item priced $42 saves $21, so you pay $21.
Adding and taking away 50%
Increasing 42 by 50% gives 63 and decreasing it by 50% gives 21. These do not cancel out: raising 42 by 50% and then lowering the result by 50% ends at 31.5, because the second 50% is taken of a bigger number.
Related results
| 5% of 42 | 5% of 42 = 2.1 |
| 10% of 42 | 10% of 42 = 4.2 |
| 15% of 42 | 15% of 42 = 6.3 |
| 20% of 42 | 20% of 42 = 8.4 |
| 25% of 42 | 25% of 42 = 10.5 |
| 75% of 42 | 75% of 42 = 31.5 |
The other way round: 42% of 50
Practice
| 10% of 82 | Show answer10% of 82 = 8.2 |
| 2% of 66 | Show answer2% of 66 = 1.32 |
| 86% of 47 | Show answer86% of 47 = 40.42 |
| 22% of 62 | Show answer22% of 62 = 13.64 |
| 97% of 56 | Show answer97% of 56 = 54.32 |
| 73% of 2 | Show answer73% of 2 = 1.46 |
How answers are calculated and checked: methodology.
Questions
What is 50 Percent of 42?
50% of 42 is 21. Formula, steps and practice examples.
What is 50% off 42?
21. Taking 50% off leaves 50% of 42.
What is 42 plus 50%?
63. Adding 50% is the same as multiplying by 1.5.