The greatest place value in a number is the place value of the digit on the far left.
Example:
123.456
The digit on the far left is 1.
The 1 is in the hundreds place.
The greatest place value in 123.456 is the hundreds place.
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Note: Special Condition: The greatest place value in a number is the place value of the non-zero digit on the far left.
We don't usually write things with 0's on the left (00037 vs. 37), but if we do, the greatest place value in a number is the place value of the digit on the far left, ignoring any 0's to the left of the leftmost non-0 digit.
Example:
0007.89
Ignore the 0's on the left
7.89
7 is on the far left
7 is in the ones place
The ones place is the greatest place value in 0007.89
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Example:
00012300.456
We only remove the 0's on the far left
12300.456
The far left digit is 1
The 1 is in the ten thousands place
The ten thousands place is the greatest place value in 00012300.456