1. What is Percent Change?

Percent change measures the degree of change over time and is used for many purposes such as financial analysis, scientific data comparison, and performance measurement. It expresses the change as a percentage of the original value.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the percent change formula:

Where:

• New Value — The current or final value
• Old Value — The original or initial value

Explanation: The formula calculates how much a value has changed relative to its original value, expressed as a percentage.

3. Importance of Percent Change Calculation

Details: Percent change is widely used in finance to track investment performance, in business to measure growth, in science to compare experimental results, and in economics to track price changes.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter both old and new values. The calculator will show the percentage increase (positive result) or decrease (negative result). Note that the old value cannot be zero.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What's the difference between percent change and percentage points?
A: Percent change is relative to the original value, while percentage points are absolute differences between percentages.

Q2: How do I interpret a negative percent change?
A: A negative result indicates a decrease from the old value to the new value.

Q3: Why can't the old value be zero?
A: Division by zero is mathematically undefined, making percent change calculation impossible when the original value is zero.

Q4: How is percent change different from percent difference?
A: Percent change compares two values over time, while percent difference compares two simultaneous values.

Q5: What are some common applications of percent change?
A: Stock price changes, population growth rates, inflation measurements, and scientific experiment comparisons.