Build a 3-Digit Number

Place value tells what each digit stands for. In 472, the 4 means 4 hundreds (400), 7 means 7 tens (70), and 2 means 2 ones. Add them: 400 plus 70 plus 2 equals 472.

Use three sliders: one for hundreds, one for tens, one for ones. The lab shows blocks for each, and adds them up. Try 3 hundreds, 0 tens and 5 ones to make 305.

Reading a 250-rupee price tag in a shop, an autorickshaw bill of 145 rupees, or your roll number 318 in school all use place value. Without it, you cannot tell 23 from 230.

Read the hundreds digit first, then say hundred. Next, read the last two digits as a normal number. So 472 is four hundred seventy-two. Practice with car number plates while travelling.