Video Transcript
Fill in the blank using the symbol
for greater than, less than, or equal to. Forty-five thousand six hundred
fifty-eight what forty-five thousand two hundred fifty-eight.
In this question, we’re given two
numbers to compare. Now, usually, when we compare
numbers, we might look at each digit one by one, see what they’re worth. But in this particular question,
our numbers have been written in words. How are we going to compare
them? Well, one way to find the answer
might be to draw a place value grid and to actually write each number in digits. Our first number is 45,658, and our
second number is quite similar, 45,258. Because our numbers are so similar,
as well as comparing them using the place value grid, we could actually compare the
words together. Let’s do both at the same time.
When we compare two numbers
together, we know that we always start by comparing the digit with the greatest
value. And as these are two five-digit
numbers, that digit is in the ten thousands place. Both numbers have a four in the ten
thousands place. So, we need to go on and look at
the thousands place. But they have the same digit here,
too. And if we compare our numbers
written in words, we can see this. Both numbers begin with forty-five
thousand.
We’re going to need to compare the
next digit along. That’s the hundreds digit. Our first number has a six in the
hundreds place, but our second number has a two. And we can see this difference if
we compare the numbers in words. Our first number is forty-five six
hundred and something, but our second number is forty-five two hundred and
something. It doesn’t matter about the rest of
the number. We can compare these two numbers
together, just using the hundreds digits. Six is greater than two. So, we know 45,658 is greater than
45,258. The correct symbol to use in
between these two numbers to compare them is greater than.