Understanding Place Value
🔢 What is Place Value?
Place value means the value of each digit depending on its position in a number.
For example:
In the number 3,582, each digit has a different value:
3 is in the thousands place → 3,000
5 is in the hundreds place → 500
8 is in the tens place → 80
2 is in the units/ones place → 2
🧱 Place Value Chart (Whole Numbers)
| Millions | Hundred Thousands | Ten Thousands | Thousands | Hundreds | Tens | Ones |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000,000 | 100,000 | 10,000 | 1,000 | 100 | 10 | 1 |
Example:
The number 6,742,918
6 is in the millions place → 6,000,000
7 is in the hundred thousands place → 700,000
4 is in the ten thousands place → 40,000
2 is in the thousands place → 2,000
9 is in the hundreds place → 900
1 is in the tens place → 10
8 is in the ones place → 8
🔍 Decimal Place Value
The decimal point separates whole numbers from fractions.
| Ones | . | Tenths | Hundredths | Thousandths |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | . | 2 | 3 | 5 |
Example:
In 1.235:
1 is the whole number (ones place)
2 is in the tenths place → 2/10
3 is in the hundredths place → 3/100
5 is in the thousandths place → 5/1000
🧠 Key Tips:
Each place to the left of the decimal is 10× bigger.
Each place to the right of the decimal is 10× smaller.
Zeroes can hold a place but don’t add value (e.g., 204 means there are zero tens).
✍️ Practice Questions:
What is the value of 7 in the number 7,382?
Write the number: 5 thousands, 6 hundreds, 0 tens, 3 ones.
In 0.49, what is the value of the digit 9?
True or False: In 8.103, the 3 is in the thousandths place.