Place value — Mathematics, 7–10 years
A digit does not have one fixed value: its place tells us what it means. This lets us read, compare and calculate with larger numbers.
A digit has a place
In 352, the 3 means three hundreds, the 5 means five tens and the 2 means two ones. The same digit can mean something different when it moves, just as three boxes can hold three pencils or three bundles of ten.
Why group by tens?
Counting every object one by one becomes hard when there are many. Groups of ten make a number shorter and easier to check: ten ones can be renamed as one ten, and ten tens as one hundred.
Build 406
Make 406 with place-value blocks. First take four hundred-blocks, then zero ten-blocks, then six one-blocks. The empty tens place matters: without the zero, 46 would mean four tens and six ones, not four hundreds and six ones.
The biggest digit
It is tempting to think the largest-looking digit makes the largest number. But 8 in the ones place is only eight, while 3 in the hundreds place is three hundred. Compare places from left to right before comparing the digits.
Numbers in the world
Place value helps you read a price such as €4.06, a score of 406 points or a distance of 4,060 metres. Whenever a label has several digits, their positions keep the information from becoming confused.
Keep exploring
Other languages
Loading MyLeoNes™…