1. What is Percentage Difference?

Percentage difference measures the relative difference between two numbers as a percentage of their average. It's useful for comparing two values where neither is clearly a reference or "correct" value.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the percentage difference formula:

Where:

• \( Num1 \) — First number for comparison
• \( Num2 \) — Second number for comparison
• \( |Num1 - Num2| \) — Absolute difference between the numbers
• \( (Num1 + Num2)/2 \) — Average of the two numbers

Explanation: The formula calculates how much two numbers differ relative to their average value, expressed as a percentage.

3. When to Use Percentage Difference

Details: Percentage difference is commonly used in scientific experiments, quality control, financial analysis, and any situation where you want to compare two values without designating one as a reference.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter any two numbers to calculate their percentage difference. The calculator handles both positive and negative numbers.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: How is percentage difference different from percentage change?
A: Percentage change compares a new value to an old value (with the old value as reference), while percentage difference treats both values equally.

Q2: What does a 0% difference mean?
A: A 0% difference means the two numbers are identical.

Q3: Can the percentage difference be more than 100%?
A: Yes, when one number is much larger than the other (or when comparing positive and negative numbers), the difference can exceed 100%.

Q4: How to interpret percentage difference?
A: The larger the percentage difference, the more dissimilar the numbers are. The interpretation depends on context - what's significant varies by application.

Q5: What if one of the numbers is zero?
A: The calculator handles zeros, but be cautious interpreting results when comparing to zero as percentages can become very large.