Understanding place value
In a nutshell
Place value is used to help read and understand numbers more clearly.
Digit
A digit is a single number that may be part of a bigger number.
Integer
An integer is a whole number.
Sorting whole numbers into their place values
To sort a number into place values, place each digit of the number into its own place value. Start from right to left.
Example 1
Write the number 6168325 in place values.
From right to left:
Place value
| Example
| Read as
|
| Ones (also called units)
| | Five
|
| Tens
| 20
| Twenty
|
| Hundreds
| 300
| Three hundred
|
| Thousands
| 8000
| Eight thousand
|
| Ten thousands
| 60000
| Sixty thousand
|
| Hundred thousands | 100000
| One hundred thousand
|
| Millions
| 6000000
| Six million
|
Reading whole numbers
To read whole numbers, you first need to know how to group digits. To group the digits of a number, start from the right (i.e. the units) and place commas after every three digits.
Examples
- 6168325 becomes 6,168,325
- 52001 becomes 52,001
- 727 stays as 727
- 600200 becomes 600,200
Reading whole numbers
Once the digits of a number are grouped like shown above, read the number from left to right in their grouped place value.
Example 2
How is 6,168,325 read?
Looking at the groups from left to right:
The "6" represents millions. So, it is read as "six million".
The "168" is in the thousands section. So, it is read as "one hundred and sixty eight thousand".
The "325" is read normally as "three hundred and twenty five".
Therefore, 6,168,325 is read as "six million, one hundred and sixty eight thousand, three hundred and twenty five".
Decimal place values
Decimals have their own place values.
- The first digit after the decimal point is the tenths position.
- The next digit after that is the hundredths position.
- The digit after that is the thousandths position.
Example 3
Sort the number 32.145 in place values:
Place value
| Example
|
| Thousandths | |
| Hundredths | |
| Tenths | |
| Decimal point | |
| Ones (also called units)
| |
| Tens
| 30
|
Reading decimal numbers
To read numbers to the right of the decimal point, just read each digit individually. Read the decimal point as "point".
Example 4
How is the number 32.105 read?
Read from left to right, reading the decimal point as "point":
32.105 is read as "thirty two point one zero five".
Note: Commas are not used when grouping digits to the right of the decimal point.
