Place Value
Place value tells you what each digit in a number is worth based on its position. Moving one place to the left multiplies the value by 10; moving one place to the right divides by 10. For whole numbers the columns are ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands, hundred-thousands, millions.
Common mistake: The value of a digit depends on its column, not just the digit itself. In \(5\,032\), the digit \(3\) is worth \(30\), not \(3\).
Worked example:
What is the value of the digit 7 in the number \(3\,726\)?
In \(3\,\underline{7}\,26\), the 7 is in the hundreds column.
Answer: \(700\).
Worked example:
Make the smallest 4-digit number using the digits 0, 3, 6 and 6.
The first digit cannot be 0 (otherwise it wouldn’t be 4-digit). Use the smallest non-zero digit first: 3, then place the 0 next, then the remaining 6s.
Answer: \(3\,066\).