Decimal Place Value - Arithmetic Step by Step

Read the decimal 3.472 and identify each digit's place: the 4 is in the tenths place, the 7 is in the hundredths place, and the 2 is in the thousandths place.

Example

Read the digits in 3.472 by decimal place.

highlighted = computed this step

Step 1 — Set up

Set up the decimal board.

\begin{array}{ccccc}\text{ones}&\text{point}&\text{tenths}&\text{hundredths}&\text{thousandths}\\3&.&4&7&2\end{array}

Step 2 — Tenths

The tenths digit is 4.

\begin{array}{ccccc}\text{ones}&\text{point}&\text{tenths}&\text{hundredths}&\text{thousandths}\\3&.&\hl{4}&7&2\end{array}

Step 3 — Hundredths

The hundredths digit is 7.

\begin{array}{ccccc}\text{ones}&\text{point}&\text{tenths}&\text{hundredths}&\text{thousandths}\\3&.&4&\hl{7}&2\end{array}

Step 4 — Thousandths

The thousandths digit is 2.

\begin{array}{ccccc}\text{ones}&\text{point}&\text{tenths}&\text{hundredths}&\text{thousandths}\\3&.&4&7&\hl{2}\end{array}

Step 5 — Result

Read the decimal number: 3.472.

\begin{array}{ccccc}\text{ones}&\text{point}&\text{tenths}&\text{hundredths}&\text{thousandths}\\3&.&4&7&2\end{array}

decimal-place-value A decimal point separates the whole-number part from the fractional part. The first digit after the decimal is in the tenths place (1/10), the second in the hundredths place (1/100), and the third in the thousandths place (1/1000).