A decimal point is a period (.) that separates a decimal number into two parts, The number before the decimal point is called the whole part and the number after the decimal point is called the decimal part.
Place Value: Place value can be defined as the value represented by a digit in a number on the basis of its position in the number.
As we know One’s, Tens, hundreds, Thousands etc. are the place values for the Whole numbers, similarly there are some values to represent decimal numbers which are called as Tenths, Hundredths, Thousandths etc.
The place on the left side (before the decimal point) is expressed as Ones, Tens, Hundreds, Thousands, and so on and the place on the right side (after the decimal point) are expressed as Tenths, Hundredths, Thousandths, and so on.
Note: 1. As we move to the Left decimal point, each place is 10 Times greater
2. As we move to the Right of decimal point, each place is 10 Times smaller
Example: the number 123.456 has 3 Ones, 2 Tens, 1 hundreds, 4 Tenths, 5 Hundredths and 6 Thousandths
How to read a decimal number?
Decimal numbers can be read according to the Place Values of the digits, as:
The number 123.45 can be read as One Hundred Twenty Three and Forty-five Hundredths
Let's look at another decimal number 3.37 which we can also written as Three and thirty-seven hundredths. This number has both whole and a fractional part. The ‘and’ represents the decimal point. It is made up of:
3 ones (3 x 1)
3 tenths (3 x 0.1) \({{here}\ \mathbf{0}.\mathbf{1}=\ \frac{\mathbf{1}}{\mathbf{10}}}\)
7 hundredths (7 x 0.01) \({{here}\ \mathbf{0}.\mathbf{01}=\frac{\mathbf{1}}{\mathbf{100}}}\)
For more information, look at the Place value chart below:
