Place value is the value of a digit based on its position in a number. In our decimal number system, each digit's place value is ten times the place value of the digit to its right. The places in a number are ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, and so on, moving from right to left.
To understand place value, let's take the number 327 as an example. In this number, the digit 7 is in the ones place, the digit 2 is in the tens place, and the digit 3 is in the hundreds place. This means that the value of 7 is 7 ones, the value of 2 is 2 tens (or 20), and the value of 3 is 3 hundreds (or 300).
A place value chart is a helpful tool for understanding the value of digits in a number. It organizes the digits by their place value, making it easier to identify and calculate their values.
Thousands | Hundreds | Tens | Ones |
---|---|---|---|
3 | 2 | 7 |
Let's look at a few examples to further understand place value: