Percent of a percent (self-multiplication): What is 25% of 25% equal to (expressed as a decimal)?

Introduction / Context:
When a percentage is applied to another percentage, the result is their product as decimals. This illustrates that “percent of percent” rapidly leads to smaller numbers due to multiplication of two fractions less than 1.

Given Data / Assumptions:
Compute 25% of 25%.

Concept / Approach:
Convert percentages to decimals before multiplying: 25% = 0.25. Then 25% of 25% = 0.25 * 0.25 = 0.0625. The question explicitly asks for decimal form, not percent or fraction.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
As a percent, 0.0625 = 6.25%. So 25% of 25% equals 6.25% of a whole, matching another common representation.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
6.25 is 625%; 0.625 is 62.5%; 0.000625 is 0.0625%; 0.25 is just 25% itself.

Common Pitfalls:
Adding 25 and 25 to get 50 or forgetting to convert to decimals. Always multiply the decimal equivalents for “of.”

Final Answer:
0.0625