One number can be written three ways. All three mean the same amount.
Step 1: Let's Learn
Read it, or press Listen and follow the words.
Digits
The short way: 342.
Words
Written out: three hundred forty-two.
Split into places.
Expanded form writes each digit as what it is worth: 300 + 40 + 2.
The same number, three ways
Take 405. Standard form is 405. Word form is four hundred five. Expanded form is 400 + 5. Three different ways of writing one value, each useful for something different.
Expanded form shows the place value
Expanded form is the most revealing of the three, because it says out loud what each digit is worth. Writing 476 as 400 + 70 + 6 makes it impossible to think the 7 means seven. This is why expanded form is used so much when learning to add and subtract in columns.
Zeros in word form
In word form you do not say the empty places. 405 is "four hundred five", not "four hundred zero tens five". But in expanded form the empty place simply does not appear: 400 + 5. Both are correct — the zero is doing its job in the digits, where it is needed.
Step 2: Try It Yourself
One number, three ways, all at once.
Hundreds
3
Tens
4
Ones
2
three hundred forty-two
300 + 40 + 2 = 342
3 hundreds, 4 tens and 2 ones is 342.
Step 3: Watch an Example
One step at a time.
Watch Ana Expand 507
Ana writes 507 in expanded form.
- Step 1
The 5 is in the hundreds place, so it is worth 500.
Step 4: Your Turn
Practice makes it stick.
Writing a Cheque
Problem 1 of 2
What is 200 + 60 + 4 written in digits?
Reading Aloud
Problem 2 of 2
What is "four hundred nineteen" in digits?
Swap the Form
1 of 4
300 + 50 + 8 in digits?
2 of 4
600 + 2 in digits?
3 of 4
"Seven hundred thirty" in digits?
4 of 4
In expanded form, what is the 8 in 486 worth?
Step 5: Quick Check
Show what you know.
Question 1 of 2
400 + 70 + 5 in digits?
Question 2 of 2
What is the 3 in 539 worth?
What You Learned
- A number can be written in digits, in words, or expanded.
- Expanded form shows what each digit is worth.
- All three ways mean the same amount.