About Place Value
What is Place Value?
Place value helps us find the value of the digit in a number. When we say that the bill for groceries was $89, we say eighty-eight dollars, and we are in fact applying place value. If the bill was $99 we say that this number is ninety-nine dollars. The eighty shows the value of the 8 at the tens place ($89) and the nine shows the value of the 9 at the ones place ($89). Let us go through a few more examples to understand the place value of numbers.
For example, 469 can be represented as:
Where,
4 represents 4 hundreds or 400,
6 represents 6 tens, or 60,
9 represents 9 ones.
Now, if we interchange the position of the numbers and write 694, then:
If you observe, the digit 6 is in the hundreds place, so it represents 6 hundreds or 600. 9 is at the tens place, which represents 9 tens or 90.
So, the place value of 9 is 90.
4 is at the ones place, which represents 4 ones and its place value is 4.
This shows us that using the same digits, we can form different numbers. We can also compare two numbers using their place values.
The Place Value Chart
To understand place value easily and effectively, we make use of the place value chart. The place value chart has the ones place in the rightmost column. It is followed by the tens place to the left and then hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, and so on.
The place value chart also helps us to group place values. Grouping place values is very useful when we study large numbers. For example, 568293 can be written using place value as follows:
The number 568293 is separated into two periods, the thousands period and the ones period.
Solved Place Value of Numbers Examples
Example 1:
Make a place value chart and answer the questions for the number 576623.
What is the standard form of the number?
What is the place value of the digit 5?
What is the value of the digit 6 in both places?
Compare the digit 6 in the thousands period and the digit 6 in the ones period.
Solution:
The place value chart is:
The number, in the standard form, is 576,623.
The value of the digit 5 is 5 hundred thousand or 500000.
The value of the digit 6 in the thousands place is 6000.
The value of the digit 6 in the hundreds place is 600.
The value of the digit 6 in the thousand place is 10 times the value of the digit 6 in the hundreds place:
6000 = 10\(\times\) 600
Example 2: The heights of different mountains in feet are given in the list. Answer the questions that follow.
Mountain | Height (feet) |
|---|---|
K2 | 28,251 |
Mount Blanc | 15,771 |
Mount Everest | 29,035 |
Mount Rainier | 14,411 |
Mount Whitney | 14,494 |
What are the values of the digit 7 in the height of Mont Blanc?
What is the value of the digit 9 in the height of Mount Everest?
What are the values of the digit 4 in the height of Mount Rainier?
Solution:
The value of the digit 7 in the height of Mont Blanc is:
The digit 7 at the hundreds position is 700.
The digit 7 at the tens position is 70.
The value of the digit 9 in the height of Mount Everest is 9 thousands or 9000.
The values of the digit 4 in the height of Mount Rainier are:
The digit 4 at the thousands position is 4000.
The digit 4 at the hundreds position is 400.
Example 3:
Write the place value of the underlined digits.
Solution:
1. The value of the digit 5 is 5 hundred thousands or 500000.
2. The value of the digit 6 is 6 tens or 60.
3. The value of the digit 8 is 8 thousands or 8000.
4. The value of the digit 7 is 7 tens or 70.
Place value is the value of each digit in a number.
It is important to understand place value because it will help us make sense of the numbers and the values of the digits in a number. This allows one to distinguish the difference between the values of different digits in a number.
No, for each number, there is a unique place value in a number.