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Place value

Years 3 to 6

The position of a digit tells you how much it is worth.

Th44,000H5500T770O334,573
Place value chart for 4,573. Each digit is worth its number times its place.

For learners

In the number 4,573, the 5 is not worth 5. It is in the hundreds place, so it is worth 500.

Each place is worth ten times more than the one to its right: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands. A zero holds a place when there is nothing in it, like the 0 in 4,073.

Say 4,573 as: four thousand, five hundred and seventy-three.

A worked example

What is the value of the 7 in 4,573?

  1. The 7 is in the tens place.
  2. .
  3. So the 7 is worth 70.

For grown-ups

Place value is the base of all written calculation. A chart with columns helps. Digits move one place left when multiplied by 10, and one place right when divided by 10.

Common mistakes

  • Saying the digit's face value, not its place value.
  • Leaving out a zero placeholder, so 4,073 is written as 473.
  • Thinking that multiplying by 10 'adds a zero'. It moves the digits, and that matters for decimals.

Why it matters

Everything from adding and subtracting to decimals and standard form depends on place value.

Topics in quarter that use this

  • Place value
  • Numbers to a million
  • Rounding
  • Dividing by 10 and 100
  • Pounds and pence

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