This may be the shortest lesson on this website.
A percent, expressed by a % sign, is
nothing more than 
. A percent is not a nebulous, complicated notion, it is simply a number that is equal to exactly

.
So, when you see some number of percents, such as 30%, all that it means is

. That's all.
Percents are usually used to discuss relation of one number in comparison with another, simply because "thirty percent of" is easier to pronounce that "zero point three of".