Place value is the value of a digit based on its position in a number. In our base-10 system, each place is worth 10 times the place to its right. Understanding place value is essential for reading, writing, comparing numbers, and performing calculations.

The same digit has different values depending on where it appears. In 555, the first 5 represents 500, the second represents 50, and the third represents 5. Recognizing these values helps students understand the magnitude of numbers and perform mental math.

Expanded form shows a number as the sum of each digit times its place value: 3,472 = 3,000 + 400 + 70 + 2. This representation helps students see the structure of numbers and understand how addition and subtraction work with multi-digit numbers.

Place value patterns extend in both directions. Moving left, each place is 10 times larger: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands. Moving right past the decimal, each place is 10 times smaller: tenths, hundredths, thousandths. This consistent pattern makes our number system powerful and predictable.