[Math] What does $200\%$ faster mean? (How to something be more than $100\%$ faster?)

arithmeticpercentagesterminology

I'm a simple man living my every day life and have not much understanding of math or science.

Today I read an article where someone claimed they can charge a battery $200\%$ faster. This got me thinking. What do they mean? How can something be faster than $100\%$.

Let's say I charge battery in $5$ minutes. $100\%$ faster would then be $5$ minutes faster – $0$ minutes $0$ seconds – instant charging (impossible).

This guy claims $200\%$ faster charging, so what does he mean? He charges batteries in $-5$ minutes?

Best Answer

"Faster" refers to speed (units of something per unit of time) or velocity (units of something per unit of time, with a directional component).

In this case you are talking about charging a battery in $5$ minutes. The speed of that operation is $(1.0\,\text{battery})/(5.0\,\text{minutes})$, or $0.2$ batteries per minute.

$100\%$ faster than $0.2$ batteries per minute would be $0.4$ batteries per minute, or charging a single battery in $2.5$ minutes.

$200\%$ faster than $0.2$ batteries per minute would be $0.6$ batteries per minute, or charging a single battery in $1\frac{2}{3}$ minutes, or $1$ minute and $40$ seconds.

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