Place Value and Rounding Numbers
Place value is the value of each digit in a number, so in 321 the 3 is worth 300. Each column is worth ten times the one on its right. Rounding numbers makes them simpler: 5 or more rounds up, 4 or less rounds down.
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What is a Place Value Chart?
- A place value chart shows the value of each digit in a number.
- For example, the digit 2 means 20 in tens but 200 in hundreds.
The Base 10 Number System
- The base 10 system uses the digits 0-9 to make all numbers.
- Moving a digit left makes the value 10 times bigger (5 → 50 → 500).
How to Round a Number?
- Find the target place you are rounding to, then look at the digit to the right.
- If the digit is 5 or more, round up; if it is 4 or less, round down.
What Does Rounding Down Mean?
- When rounding down, the target digit stays the same and the rest become zeros.
- For example, 342 rounded to the nearest 10 becomes 340.
What Does Rounding Up Mean?
- When rounding up, the target digit increases by 1 and the rest become zeros.
- For example, 685 rounded to the nearest 10 becomes 690.
Practice Questions
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What is the place value of the digit 3 in the number 3452?
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In the number 3452, the digit 3 is in the thousands place, representing 3000.
Round 4367 to the nearest hundred.
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To round to the nearest hundred, check the tens digit (6). Since it is 5 or more, round the hundreds digit up to get 4400.
In the number 27891, what is the value of the digit 8?
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In 27891, the digit 8 is in the hundreds place, so its value is 800.
Round 8946 to the nearest thousand.
Correct! 🎉 +20 pointsNot quite right
To round to the nearest thousand, check the hundreds digit (9). Since it is 5 or more, round up to 9000.
Which digit do you check to round 76349 to the nearest hundred?
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To round to the nearest hundred, you check the tens digit, which is 4.
Round 135289 to the nearest ten thousand.
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To round to the nearest ten thousand, check the thousands digit (5). Since it is 5 or more, round up to 140000.
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A place value chart shows the value of each digit in a number based on its column. From the right, the columns are ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, and ten thousands. Each column to the left is worth ten times the one before it.
The base-10 system, also called the decimal system, is the number system we use every day. The place value of each digit increases ten times as you move one column to the left. This is why the system is named base-10.
Read each digit with its place value, working from left to right. For 54,321, you say fifty-four thousand, three hundred and twenty-one. The chart shows which column each digit sits in, so you always know the value of every digit as you read.
To round a number, look at the digit right after the place you are rounding to. If that digit is below 5, round down and keep the rounding digit. If it is 5 or greater, round up by adding 1. Then replace all following digits with zeros.
Find the thousands column, then look at the digit just to its right, in the hundreds column. If that digit is 5 or greater, add 1 to the thousands digit; if it is below 5, leave it unchanged. Then replace every digit after the thousands column with zeros.
We round numbers to make them simpler to say and remember, especially when they get really big. Rounding gives a close, tidy value instead of a long exact one. Remember that rounding down makes a number smaller, while rounding up makes it a little bigger.