The ten digits in the number system allow you to count from 0 to 9. All higher numbers are produced using place value. Place value assigns a digit a greater or lesser value, depending on where it appears in a number. Each place in a number is ten times greater than the place to its immediate right.
To understand how a whole number gets its value, suppose you write the number 45,019 all the way to the right, one digit per cell, and add up the numbers you get.
| Millions | Thousands | Ones | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hundred Millions | Ten Millions | Millions | Hundred Thousands | Ten Thousands | Thousands | Hundreds | Tens | Ones |
| 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
You have 4 ten thousands, 5 thousands, 0 hundreds, 1 ten, and 9 ones. The chart shows you that the number breaks down as follows:
45,019 = 40,000 + 5,000 + 0 + 10 + 9
In this example, notice that the presence of the digit 0 in the hundreds place means that zero hundreds are added to the number.