Wikipedia:Two times does not mean two times more

Two times does not mean two times more. Two times more does not mean two times as many. This is your guide to turning numbers into words.

One is 100%.
This is a cookie.

It looks like a very nice chocolate chip cookie.

It is one cookie.

One cookie is 100% of a cookie.

Two is 200% as many, or 100% more than one cookie.
This is two cookies. These cookies are stacked up in a way that suggests someone is going to eat both of them.

If one cookie is 100%, then two cookies is 200%. The lucky person is going to eat 200% as many cookies as our first section. The number of cookies in this section is double what we had in the first section.

In the first section we had one cookie, and now we have more than that. Specifically, if we used to have one cookie and now we have two, we have one cookie more than before. The number of cookies has increased by one cookie, so the amount has increased by 100%.

Two cookies is also 200%, and that means that two cookies is 100% more than one cookie. That's because 200% (two cookies) = 100% (the first cookie) + 100% (the second cookie). In the first section, we already had one cookie. The part that is actually "more than" the first cookie's 100% is the second cookie's 100%. We have 200%, which is 100% more than we had originally.

Three is 300% as many, or 200% more than one cookie.


This is three cookies. These cookies look like they were baked at too high of a temperature. The outside looks very brown, but underneath, they look barely cooked through.

If one cookie is 100%, then three cookies is 300%. The first cookie is 100% of a cookie; the second cookie is 100%; the third cookie is 100% of a cookie. Whoever gets these cookies has 300% as many cookies as we had in the first section. The number of cookies has tripled, compared to the first section.

300% as many cookies is 200% more than we started with. Three cookies is 300%, and that means that three cookies is 200% more than one cookie. The two-cookie increase means that the amount has increased by 200%. That's because $$300% = 100% + 200%$$. The part that is actually "more than" the first cookie's 100% is the second and third cookie's combined 200%. We now have 300%, which is 200% more than we had when we only had one cookie.

Five and a half is 550% as many, or 450% more than one cookie.
This is five and a half cookies. It looks like someone has started eating the cookies.

If one cookie is 100%, then five and a half cookies is 550%. Each whole cookie is 100%, and the half cookie is 50%. Whoever gets these cookies has 550% as many cookies as we had in the first section.

Whoever gets these cookies also has more than we had in the first section. In the first section, we had one cookie. Here, we have five and a half cookies, which is four and a half cookies more than we had originally. In percentages, that means we have 450% more than we used to. The number of cookies has gone up by 450%.

Handy table
Remember, if you start with a different baseline number, then all the calculations have to be adjusted. If you start with two cookies, and now you have four cookies, then four is twice as many as two cookies, and 100% more than you started with.