"Fifty percent" refers to half of a whole, represented as a fraction of 1/2 or a decimal of 0.5. It is commonly used in various contexts, such as statistics, finance, and everyday decision-making, to indicate a division of quantity or probability. For example, if a survey shows that 50% of respondents prefer a certain product, it means that half of the surveyed individuals favor that option. In mathematics, fifty percent can also be expressed as a percentage, which is a way to compare numbers relative to 100. This concept is essential in fields like economics, where understanding percentages helps in analyzing data, making forecasts, and evaluating performance.