20% of 10 is 2. On such a small base, the arithmetic stays friendly: 10 ÷ 5 = 2 because twenty percent is exactly one fifth of the whole. If you prefer decimals, 0.2 × 10 = 2 with no rounding drift. For context on the same ten, 15% of 10 is 1.5 and 25% of 10 is 2.5, so the twenty-percent slice sits halfway between a fifteen-percent nibble and a quarter of the total—still a whole number here only because the rate and base line up neatly.
Read 20% off £10 as “subtract £2,” leaving £8 before delivery, tax, or tips. If someone asks for twenty percent of ten for a fee, tip pool, or micro-budget line, the portion they mean is 2, not the remainder. Mixing those two wordings is a common slip when the numbers are small enough to fit in your head in one glance.
Scaling helps sanity-check the answer: doubling the base to twenty doubles the slice—20% of 20 is 4, which is 2 × 2. Halving would point toward five: 20% of 5 is 1, another tidy fifth. That proportionality matters when a receipt line moves from a ten-pound snack to a twenty-pound round without changing the discount rate.
Because 10 is a single digit in the tens column, classroom examples often use this pair to introduce percentages before money gets messy with pence. The important habit is recognising 20% as a fifth everywhere—whether the base is ten pounds, ten items, or ten hours billed—so the mental model survives when the base grows.
If £10 is reduced by 20%, the reduction is £2 and you pay £8 (before other charges).
Change either value below to solve another percentage-of-number question instantly.
Formula used: (percentage ÷ 100) × number
Step 1: Convert 20% → 0.2.
Step 2: Multiply: 0.2 × 10 = 2.
Full formula: (20 ÷ 100) × 10 = 2
Fifth shortcut: 10 ÷ 5 = 2. No decimal step is required when you remember that twenty percent and one fifth are the same relationship, which is why this rate shows up so often in mental arithmetic drills.
Ten splits evenly into five equal parts of two. A twenty-percent share is exactly one of those parts, so the answer is a counting number, not a fragment like 1.5 or 2.5 you get from fifteen or twenty-five percent on the same base. On larger whole bases the fifth can still land on an integer—20% of 30 is 6, for instance—while bases such as 12 force 2.4 and reintroduce decimals.
If you frame the problem as “what is two tenths of ten,” you are really asking for 0.2 × 10, which reinforces that “percent” means “per hundred” even when the base is ten: the hundredths and the base’s tens column interact to drop the decimal in the right place.
The fastest path is the fifth: 10 ÷ 5 = 2.
If you already know 30% of 10 is 3, shaving off 10% of 10 (which is 1) lands on 2 again—useful when your head holds round tens more easily than fifths.
Example 1: Twenty percent off a £10 book
The saving is £2 and the reduced shelf price is £8 if nothing else is added at checkout.
Example 2: Pocket-money allocation
Setting aside twenty percent of a £10 weekly allowance reserves £2 for savings or a goal jar, leaving £8 for spending if that is the rule you agreed.
Example 3: Small-batch craft sale
If material for ten units costs £10 and you earmark 20% of that line for wastage, you budget £2 of slack, not £8—the question asked for the percentage of the cost, not the remainder after removing it.
Example 4: Comparing rates on the same tenner
Fifteen percent takes £1.50, twenty percent takes £2, twenty-five takes £2.50. Seeing all three on one base clarifies how fast the slice grows when the headline discount jumps by five points.
20% of 10 is 2.
Multiply 10 by 0.2, or divide 10 by 5 because 20% is one fifth.
20% off 10 is a reduction of 2, leaving 8.