Why is the % character a βmodulusβ and not a βpercentβ? Mostly thatβs just how the designers chose to use that symbol. In normal writing you are correct to read it as a βpercent.β In programming this calculation is typically done with simple division and the / operator. The % modulus is a different operation that just happens to use the % symbol. (shawLearnPythonHard2017?)