Math: Basic Tutorials : Place Value in Decimal Number Systems

Place Value in Decimal Number Systems

Place value is a key concept in the decimal number system, where each digit’s position represents a specific power of 10. In healthcare, understanding place value is essential for interpreting and calculating measurements like medication dosages, lab results, and vital signs.

This section will help you determine the place value of digits to the left and right of the decimal point, from ones and tenths to hundredths and thousandths. With clear examples, you’ll learn how place value affects calculations and how to use it for accurate and precise measurements in healthcare.

Tips

Place Value

The decimal number system is a base 10 system, so the digits of each place can be any number from 0 to 9. Each place value has a name.

chart showing trillions, billions, millions, thousands, ones. each of these categories broken down into hundreds, tens, ones.

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Decimals

For large numbers, digits are separated by commas or spaces into groups of three, called periods. For example,

$12, 340, 982 320 432 196$

Practice

Place Values Practice Questions

Examples

Example 1

Example 1:
Name the following number: $384, 341$
Solution:	Three hundred eighty-four thousand, three hundred forty-one.

Example 2

Example 2:
Write out the following number: Twelve million, thirty-eight thousand, two
Solution:	Note: there is no and separating periods. The word and is reserved for decimal place values after the ones column.	$12, 038, 002$

Example 3

Example 3:
What place value is underlined for the following numbers:
$820, 3 \underline{3} 0, 020$	Solution:	ten thousands
$\underline{4} 032$	Solution:	thousands
$1, 402 \underline{4} 97$	Solution:	hundreds

Last Updated: Jun 25, 2025 4:00 PM
URL: https://tlp-lpa.ca/math-tutorials
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Math: Basic Tutorials