Place value: Three-digit numbers

In a nutshell

There are three place values for three-digit numbers: hundreds, tens and ones. Zeros can also be used as placeholders where necessary.

Place value

Place value represents how much a digit is worth, depending upon its position in a number. A three-digit number can be separated or partitioned into hundreds, ten and ones. The position of the digit, or the place value, indicates how big the number is.

Example 1

Use place value to partition the number $357$ .

The number $357$ consists of $3$ hundreds, $5$ tens and $7$ ones. This can therefore be written as

$\underline{357 = 300 + 50+7}$

Example 2

Use place value to partition the number $408$ .

The number $408$ consists of $4$ hundreds and $8$ ones. This can therefore be written as

$\underline{408 = 400+8}$

Note: The zero in the 'tens column' is called a placeholder, as there are no tens for the number.

Place value model

A number can be represented using a place value model. A place value model shows the number in the form of counters to represent the different place values.

Example

Partition the number $316$ using a place value model.

The number $316$ consists of $3$ hundreds, $1$ ten and $6$ ones. This can be shown as:

Maths; Number and place value; KS2 Year 3; Place value: Three-digit numbers