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Place Value

Grades K–5

Definition

Place value is the value of a digit based on its position in a number. Each place in a number is worth 10 times more than the place to its right.

Imagine a number as seats on a bus. Each seat (place) has a different value. The farther left a digit sits, the bigger its value becomes: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands.

Examples

  • In 52, the 5 is in the tens place so it means 50.
  • In 347, the 3 is in the hundreds place, the 4 is in the tens place, and the 7 is in the ones place.
  • In 1,206, the 1 is worth 1,000.

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