NCERT Solutions for Class 5th Maths Chapter 1 The place value chart and the Indian place value system — In-text Questions

Book page 2 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.
Look at the table below and notice the pattern of writing numbers. In the place value chart, we have added another column, TTh. It stands for ten thousand. In the same way, 10 Thousands = Ten Thousand = 10,000.
×10×10×10×10TThThHTO110100100010000
The place value chart printed on page 2. Each place is ten times the place on its right.
Answer

The pattern is simple: each column is ten times the column on its right.

10 Ones = 1 Ten = 10
10 Tens = 1 Hundred = 100
10 Hundreds = 1 Thousand = 1,000
10 Thousands = 1 Ten Thousand = 10,000

So the chart now has five columns:

TThThHTO
1
10
100
1000
10000

Reading down the last column of numbers: 1, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000. Every step to the left adds one more zero, because every step to the left means ×10.

Tip: The comma is written after the thousands digit. It splits 10,000 into 10 and 000, which is why we say ten thousand.
Q2.
Do you remember how we read and write numbers in the Indian place value system? We use the same ten digits 0–9 in different places to write larger numbers. For example, 1,380 = 1 Thousand + 3 Hundreds + 8 Tens + 0 Ones. 9,123 = 9 Thousands + 1 Hundred + 2 Tens + 3 Ones.
Answer

Yes. We have only ten digits — 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. What makes a number big is not a new digit but the place a digit sits in.

1,380 broken up:

1 Thousand = 1,000
3 Hundreds = 300
8 Tens = 80
0 Ones = 0
1,000 + 300 + 80 + 0 = 1,380

9,123 broken up:

9 Thousands = 9,000
1 Hundred = 100
2 Tens = 20
3 Ones = 3
9,000 + 100 + 20 + 3 = 9,123
Why it happens: The same digit 1 is worth 1,000 in 1,380 but only 100 in 9,123. Its value comes from where it stands. That is the whole idea of a place value system.
Check it yourself: Write 3,081. Which digit is worth nothing here? The 0 in the hundreds place. But you cannot remove it — without it the number becomes 381, which is quite different. A zero holds the place open.
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