Video Transcript
Write this number in words.
In this question, we’re given a
five-digit number. And it’s a good job it wasn’t read
to you as we read the question. Then you’d know how to write this
number in words straight away. But so far, all we’ve got is this
number written in digits.
To work out how to write it in
words, we’re going to need to think about the place value of each of these
digits. What are they worth? Let’s try modeling our number using
place value counters. Let’s start with the lowest-value
digit first. So we’re going to need one one, six
10s, six 100s, eight 1,000s, and our largest-value digit, six lots of 10,000. So how would we read this
number?
To begin with, what are six lots of
10,000 worth? 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, 40,000,
50,000, 60,000. Let’s make a note of this,
60,000. But wait a moment! We’ve got some more thousands. There’s an eight in the thousands
place. Our number isn’t just 60,000; it’s
68,000. Perhaps you noticed a little comma
in the number in the question. This comma appears between the
thousands and the hundreds digits, and it’s a way of separating out the
thousands. So when we see this comma, we can
look at it and say thousand, sixty-eight thousand.
Now we just need to say the last
three digits. We’ve got a six in the hundreds
place, so that’s six hundred, six 10s, which are worth 60, and then our one one. Because we read our last two digits
as a two-digit number, we say sixty-one. Perhaps you knew how to write this
number without even using the place value counters to help. A five-digit number that’s written
68,661 is written in words sixty-eight thousand six hundred sixty-one.
