The big idea
Numbers are made of digits. A digit is one of the symbols 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9.
The same digit can be worth a lot or a little. It depends on where it sits. This is called place value. It means the value a digit has because of its place in a number.
Let's explore
Think about football cards. You can keep them loose. You can bundle 10 cards with an elastic band. You can put 10 bundles in a box. A box holds 100 cards.
Say you have 2 boxes, 4 bundles and 6 loose cards. That is 246 cards.
| Hundreds | Tens | Ones |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 4 | 6 |
- The 2 is worth 200.
- The 4 is worth 40.
- The 6 is worth 6.
So 246 = 200 + 40 + 6. Splitting a number like this is called partitioning.