Digit at a given place
Every number is built from individual digits (0, 1, 2, … 9). The value a digit has in a number is determined by its place (the position).
How the places in a number are arranged
We read the places in a number from right to left. The first place is the ones, then the tens, hundreds, thousands, and so on.
3
millions
1,000,000
5
hundred thousands
100,000
4
ten thousands
10,000
2
thousands
1,000
6
hundreds
100
8
tens
10
1
ones
1
The number is 3,542,681. At the millions place is the digit 3, at the thousands place is the digit 2, and at the tens place is the digit 8.
How to find the digit at a given place
The procedure is always the same:
- Write down the number so you can see all the digits.
- Count from the right: the first digit is the ones, the second is the tens, the third is the hundreds, the fourth is the thousands…
- Find the place the question is asking about.
- Read the digit that stands at that place.
Example 1
Problem: What digit stands at the thousands place in the number 478,219? Solution:Let's write out the places from right to left:
- ones → 9
- tens → 1
- hundreds → 2
- thousands → 8
- ten thousands → 7
- hundred thousands → 4
Example 2
Problem: What digit stands at the ten thousands place in the number 1,056,030? Solution: Counting from the right:- ones → 0
- tens → 3
- hundreds → 0
- thousands → 6
- ten thousands → 5
- hundred thousands → 0
- millions → 1
Notice that zeros are digits too, and they hold their own place. In the number 1,056,030 the digit at the hundreds place is 0 – but that does not mean the place doesn't exist.
Related articles
- Place of a digit in a number – the reverse: you know the digit and you're looking for its place.
- Expanded form of a number – how to write each digit as the value matching its place.
- Back to the guide
Practice it
- Digit at a given place – the generator creates a number and asks which digit stands at a given place.