Place value and ordering numbers
Reading, writing and ordering whole numbers and decimals
Welcome to Maths Skills! We start with the idea that everything else is built on: place value. The position of a digit tells you what it is worth.
Every digit has a value
In 4,372.56 the 4 is worth 4 thousands (4,000), the 3 is 3 hundreds (300), the 7 is 7 tens (70), the 2 is 2 ones, the 5 is 5 tenths (0.5) and the 6 is 6 hundredths (0.06).
Big numbers: 1 million = 1,000,000 (a thousand thousands).
Worked examples
Example 1. What is the value of the 8 in 58,214?
Example 2. Write 3,040,500 in words.
Example 3. Put in order, smallest first: 0.7, 0.65, 0.072, 0.8
Top tips and common mistakes
- A longer decimal is not always bigger: 0.65 is smaller than 0.7.
- Use the symbols: < means “is less than” and > means “is greater than”.
- Multiplying by 10 moves every digit one place to the left; dividing by 10 moves every digit one place to the right.
I like to imagine the columns as boxes. If a box is empty, a zero keeps its place!
Practise
Answer as many as you like. Every question is new, and you get a “correct” tick for each one you get right first time. Use “Show answer” to see a worked solution.
Quiz: earn your stamp
Printable worksheet
Place value and ordering numbers worksheet. The questions come first and the answers for grown-ups are on the last page, so you can print just the question pages.
Printing is optional. A4 size.