Topics
1. Number and place value
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Australia
Year 3

1.07 Order 4 digit numbers

Lesson
Practice
Lesson

Are you ready?

Can you  order and compare two or three digit numbers  ?

Examples

Example 1

Write the greater than (>) or less than (<) symbol in the box to make this number sentence true.

87\,⬚\,98

Worked Solution
Create a strategy

Plot the numbers on a number line. The symbol should point to the smaller number.

Apply the idea
858687888990919293949596979899100

Since 87 is to the left of 98, it is the smaller number.

87<98

Idea summary

Greater than (>) or less than (<) symbols are useful to compare numbers.

Order 4 digit numbers on a number line

In this video, we order four digit numbers on a number line.

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Examples

Example 2

We want to work out which of three numbers is the largest.

a

Choose which line has 6630,6830, and 6730 plotted correctly.

A
660066506700675068006850
B
660066506700675068006850
Worked Solution
Create a strategy

Find how much each mark in between the numbers is going up by.

Apply the idea

6650-6600 =50. Since there are 5 spaces between 6600 and 6650, then each space represents an increase of 10, since there are five lots of 10 in 50.

6630 is 3 tens more than 6600, so it should be 3 spaces to the right of 6600.

6730 is 3 tens more than 6700, so it should be 3 spaces to the right of 6700.

6830 is 3 tens more than 6800, so it should be 3 spaces to the right of 6800.

So the answer is option A.

b

Write the three numbers from smallest to largest.

Worked Solution
Create a strategy

Use the number line from part (a).

Remember that the smaller a number is, the further to the left on a number line it is.

A number line with arrows pointing which direction are smaller and larger. Ask your teacher for more information.
Apply the idea

On the number line from part (a), 6630 was plotted to the left of 6730, and 6730 was plotted to the left of 6830. So 6630 is the smallest number and 6830 is the largest number.

So the numbers in order are:6630, \,6730, \,6830

Idea summary

Remember that the smaller a number is, the further to the left on a number line it is.

Order 4 digit numbers in a place value table

In this video we look at how to order numbers from smallest to largest, using a place value table. We also look at using the symbols for 'less than' (\lt) and 'greater than' (\gt).

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Examples

Example 3

Arrange 2329, 2239, 2392 from largest to smallest.

Worked Solution
Create a strategy

Use a place value table and compare the digits from thousands.

Apply the idea
ThousandsHundredsTensOnes (Units)
2329
2239
2392

We can see that all the numbers have the same number of thousands.

2239 has the smallest number of hundreds so it is the smallest number.

2329 and 2392 have the same number of hundreds.

2329 has less tens than 2392, so 2329 \lt 2392.

So the numbers from largest to smallest are:2392,\,2329,\,2239

Idea summary

When we use place value to order numbers, always start with the far left digit and think about the digit's place value.

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