Cover Page ofThe Mayfield Handbook of Technical & Scientific Writing
Table of ContentsWriting TimelineHelpCredits

Usage Glossary: A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y

percent/per cent/percentage

Use the symbol % to express percent inscientific and technical writing, except when writing numbers at the beginning of a sentence. Whenyou write out the word, use the form percent instead ofthe older form per cent.

Only 3% of the systems crashed during thetest period.

Three percent of the systems crashed duringthe test period.

In nontechnical writing, use the word percent rather thanthe symbol %.

The population has increased 1.42 percentduring the past ten years.

The word percentage refers to a general result or portion.

The percentage of system failures was belowthe limit set for the prototype.

Reference Link Text
## percent/per cent/percentage ##
Reference Link Text

[ Home | Table of Contents| Writing Timeline | Index |Help | Credits]

Copyright ©2001 The McGraw-Hill Companies. Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
Corporate Link