The Hundreds Place
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In Grade 1, you learned about tens and ones. Now it is time to learn about a bigger place - the hundreds place!
What Is Place Value?
Place value tells us what a digit is worth based on where it sits in a number. The same digit can mean different things in different places!
For example, the digit 3 can mean 3, 30, or 300 depending on its place.
The Three Places We Know
In a three-digit number like 456:
- Hundreds place: The 4 means 4 hundreds (400)
- Tens place: The 5 means 5 tens (50)
- Ones place: The 6 means 6 ones (6)
So 456 = 400 + 50 + 6
Counting by Hundreds
Let us count by hundreds:
100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900
After 900 comes 1,000 - that is one thousand!
Think of Hundreds Like Bundles
Imagine you have blocks:
- 1 small cube = 1 one
- 1 stick of 10 cubes = 1 ten
- 1 flat of 100 cubes = 1 hundred
A hundred is a BIG group - it is 10 tens or 100 ones!
Worked Examples
Example 1: What digit is in the hundreds place?
Problem: In the number 357, what digit is in the hundreds place?
Step 1: Write the number: 357
Step 2: Find the hundreds place (the leftmost digit in a 3-digit number)
Answer: 3 is in the hundreds place
Example 2: What is the value of the digit?
Problem: In the number 724, what is the value of the 7?
Step 1: The 7 is in the hundreds place
Step 2: 7 in the hundreds place means 7 hundreds
Step 3: 7 hundreds = 700
Answer: The value of 7 in 724 is 700
Example 3: Building a number
Problem: What number has 5 hundreds, 3 tens, and 8 ones?
Step 1: 5 hundreds = 500
Step 2: 3 tens = 30
Step 3: 8 ones = 8
Step 4: Put them together: 500 + 30 + 8 = 538
Answer: 538
Example 4: Breaking apart a number
Problem: How many hundreds, tens, and ones are in 692?
Step 1: Look at each digit: 6, 9, 2
Step 2: 6 is in the hundreds place = 6 hundreds
Step 3: 9 is in the tens place = 9 tens
Step 4: 2 is in the ones place = 2 ones
Answer: 6 hundreds, 9 tens, 2 ones
Example 5: Comparing the same digit
Problem: In the number 555, what is each 5 worth?
Step 1: First 5 (left) is in the hundreds place = 500
Step 2: Middle 5 is in the tens place = 50
Step 3: Last 5 (right) is in the ones place = 5
Answer: The 5s are worth 500, 50, and 5!
Practice Problems
Try these problems on your own. Click "Show Answer" to check your work!
Problem 1: In the number 489, what digit is in the hundreds place?
Show Answer
4
Problem 2: What is the value of 8 in the number 831?
Show Answer
800 (8 is in the hundreds place, so it means 8 hundreds = 800)
Problem 3: What number has 2 hundreds, 7 tens, and 4 ones?
Show Answer
274 (200 + 70 + 4 = 274)
Problem 4: In the number 305, what digit is in the tens place?
Show Answer
0 (There are zero tens in 305)
Problem 5: How many hundreds are in 600?
Show Answer
6 hundreds
Problem 6: What is the value of 5 in the number 258?
Show Answer
50 (5 is in the tens place)
Problem 7: Write the number: 9 hundreds, 0 tens, 3 ones
Show Answer
903
Problem 8: In 444, what is the value of each 4?
Show Answer
First 4 = 400, Middle 4 = 40, Last 4 = 4
Problem 9: Which digit in 762 has the greatest value?
Show Answer
7 (because 7 hundreds = 700, which is more than 60 or 2)
Problem 10: What number is 100 more than 356?
Show Answer
456 (Add 1 more hundred: 3 hundreds becomes 4 hundreds)
Check Your Understanding
Question 1: In a three-digit number, which place is on the left?
Show Answer
The hundreds place is on the left in a three-digit number.
Question 2: How many ones equal one hundred?
Show Answer
100 ones equal one hundred!
Question 3: In 503, why is there a 0 in the tens place?
Show Answer
The 0 shows there are no tens. The number has 5 hundreds, 0 tens, and 3 ones.
Question 4: What happens to a number when you add 100 to it?
Show Answer
The hundreds digit goes up by 1! For example, 234 + 100 = 334.
Next Steps
- Practice: Look at numbers around you and find the hundreds digit
- Play: Use base-ten blocks to build three-digit numbers
- Next Lesson: Learn about expanded form to show numbers in a new way!
- Challenge: Can you count by 100s from any number?