Interactive · 1 question
Decimal place value counts up in the opposite direction
Place value for decimals works pretty much the exact same way as it does for whole numbers, but in reverse. In the whole number , the is in the hundreds place and has the place value of (written as ). In the decimal , the is in the hundredths place and has the place value of (written as or ). If a number has multiple copies of the same digit, we find a different place value each time the digit appears.
So, the first digit in a decimal is in the "tenths" place, the second is in the "hundredths" place, and so on. Place values for decimals are shown in this table:

Image by Caroline Kulczycky created with Canva
Even though there is a ones place there is no "oneths" place. That is the one exception to the pattern we've built up. The pattern continues as far to the left or to the right as we wish, even in repeating decimals. Don't worry about remembering the names for the places to the left of millions or to the right of millionths.
In the number , what is the place value of the ?
In , the place value of the is . There are three spaces before the and after the decimal point, so the is in the fourth place—the ten thousandths place. So, we can multiply by or by to find the place value.
Notice the and are the same. There are many other examples of converting between fractions and decimals.
