Our number system is based on giving place values to each digit. For example, the number 638 has three different place values, one for each digit. The 6 digit is in the hundreds place, the 3 in the tens place and the 8 in the ones place. If we break down the number, this is saying that 638 is made up of the following:
- 6 hundreds or 600
- 3 tens or 30
- 8 ones or 8.
When adding these together we get 600 + 30 + 8 = 638 which proves our previous statement.
When creating numbers we can write the numbers 0-9 without any issue. After nine, since 10 ones is the same as 1 ten, we write a 0 in the ones column and 1 in the tens column. Continuing on, once we hit 9 again we have the number 19. If we add one more to the 1's column we get 1 ten and 10 ones. Since we have ten ones, we can "trade" the 10 ones in for 1 ten. Since we now have 2 tens, we can write our number as the number 20.
The same applies to the tens column. Once we have 9 tens we have the number 90. If we add one more 10, or 10 ones, we have another ten, or 10 tens so we must now write a 0 in the tens column and add 1 to the hundreds column for 100. This rule applies for all place values for as large of a number as one can imagine. Here is the breakdown for a larger number.
