Algorithm for Generating Percentage Amounts

Hey guys,

Not totally sure this thread belongs in this section, feel free to move.

I'm trying to formulate an algorithm for an unusual problem.

- Generate a pie chart with X number of wedges.
- Each wedge is X percentage bigger then the one before it.
- Percentage amounts of all wedges must add up to 100 (thereby completing the pie chart)

So for example, in Excel I can create a pie chart with 5 wedges, and each wedge is 20% bigger then the previous one. It gives me these numbers (rounded).

Wedge 1: 13.43797%
Wedge 2: 16.125564%
Wedge 3: 19.3506768%
Wedge 4: 23.22081216%
Wedge 5: 27.86497459%

But I got that result by trial and error of Wedge 1's value until the final output of the pie chart hit 100%. How do I calculate Wedge 1's value simply based off the number of wedges in the pie, and the percentage amounts from one wedge to the next?

Okay cool, except a geometric series doesn't have to add up to a maximum amount, in this case 100% =/

Office_Shredder
Staff Emeritus
Gold Member
That's where doing math comes in. If your starting wedge has a%, then you want
a + 1.2a + (1.2)2a + 1.23a + 1.24a = 100

Notice that 1.2 a is 20% larger than a, and 1.22a is 20% larger than 1.2a, etc. Now all you have to do is solve for a.

AlephZero