Place Value Slider
Place value is the idea that where a digit sits matters as much as what it is. This slider tool lets you move digits between columns and watch the number's value change by factors of ten.
How to use this simulation
- Slide digits between place-value columns
- Build numbers with and without decimal places
- Multiply and divide the whole number by ten
What to look for
- Moving a digit one column left multiplies its value by ten
- Zero acts as a placeholder, holding other digits in their columns
- Multiplying by ten shifts every digit left together
The physics behind it
In base ten, each column is worth ten times the one to its right. A digit in the hundreds column contributes its face value multiplied by a hundred. Sliding a digit one place left multiplies its contribution by ten; one place right divides it by ten, which is exactly what multiplying or dividing the whole number by ten does.