Zero As A Placeholder
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Hastings55Zero As A Placeholder
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Hastings55Zero as a Placeholder
Look at the number 101. How much is it worth?
hundreds tens units (ones)
1 0 1
This number is one hundred and one. We must use zero to keep the digits in the correct columns. If we
left out the zero in the number above, we would have 11. A very different number from 101.
11 = one ten and one unit
hundreds tens units (ones)
1 1
101 is much bigger than 11.
101 = one hundred, zero tens, and one unit
hundreds tens units (ones)
1 0 1
Let’s look at another example:
Look at the number 206. What is it worth?
This number is two hundred and six. We must use the zero to indicate that there are two hundreds, no
tens, and six units (ones). If we left out the zero we would have 26. A very different number.
26 = two tens and six units
Both the ones and the zeros are important in these numbers. Zero is called a placeholder. It is not
worth anything by itself, but it changes the value of other digits. In these examples, zeros change the
number 11 to the much larger number 101 and the number 26 to the much larger number 206.
Try a few examples yourself with base ten blocks and see why Zero is called a placeholder!
