Place Value Problem: Identifying 3 in the Tens Position

Q: How do I remember which position is tens and which is ones?

Think of it like this: start from the right side and count! The first digit (rightmost) is always the ones place, and the second digit is the tens place.

Q: What if the number only has one digit, like 7?

Single-digit numbers like 7 only have a ones digit. There is no tens digit in single-digit numbers - the tens place would be considered as 0.

Q: In the number 31, why isn't 1 the tens digit since it's bigger?

Place value depends on position, not size! In 31, the digit 3 is in the tens position (second from right), while 1 is in the ones position (first from right).

Q: How can I check if I identified the place values correctly?

Break down the number: $ 31 = 3 \times 10 + 1 \times 1 $. The coefficient of 10 tells you the tens digit (3), and the coefficient of 1 tells you the ones digit (1).

Place Value Identification with Two-Digit Numbers

3 is the tens digit in which number?

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Step-by-step written solution

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Understand the problem

3 is the tens digit in which number?

Step-by-step solution

To solve this problem, let's investigate the place value system, specifically focusing on the tens digit:

In a two-digit number, the tens place is the second position from the right. Therefore, the number 35 can be deconstructed as follows:

The tens digit is '3'.
The units (or ones) digit is '5'.

Our task is to find which number among the given choices has '3' as its tens digit.

Let's break down each option:

Option 1: $13$ – The tens digit is '1'.
Option 2: $23$ – The tens digit is '2'.
Option 3: $31$ – The tens digit is '3'.
Option 4: $43$ – The tens digit is '4'.

The number that has '3' as the tens digit is clearly $31$ .

Therefore, the solution to the problem is $31$ .

Final Answer

$31$

Key Points to Remember

Essential concepts to master this topic

Place Value Rule: Tens digit is the second position from the right
Method: For $31$ , the tens digit is 3 and ones digit is 1
Check: Count positions right to left: ones place (1st), tens place (2nd) ✓

Common Mistakes

Avoid these frequent errors

Confusing tens and ones positions
Don't look at the leftmost digit and assume it's always the tens digit = wrong for single-digit numbers! In number 31, students might think 1 is the tens digit. Always count from right to left: first position is ones, second position is tens.

Practice Quiz

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What number do the blue squares below represent?

FAQ

Everything you need to know about this question

How do I remember which position is tens and which is ones?

Think of it like this: start from the right side and count! The first digit (rightmost) is always the ones place, and the second digit is the tens place.

What if the number only has one digit, like 7?

Single-digit numbers like 7 only have a ones digit. There is no tens digit in single-digit numbers - the tens place would be considered as 0.

In the number 31, why isn't 1 the tens digit since it's bigger?

Place value depends on position, not size! In 31, the digit 3 is in the tens position (second from right), while 1 is in the ones position (first from right).

How can I check if I identified the place values correctly?

Break down the number: $31 = 3 \times 10 + 1 \times 1$ . The coefficient of 10 tells you the tens digit (3), and the coefficient of 1 tells you the ones digit (1).

What about three-digit numbers like 342?

Count from right to left: 2 is ones, 4 is tens, 3 is hundreds. The second position from the right is always the tens place, no matter how many digits the number has!

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