AI Tutor
Imagine two treasure chests: one holds 5,000,000 gold coins, and the other holds 3,000,000 gold coins.
To find the bigger number, you look at the highest place value on the far left first.
The leftmost column of any seven-digit number is the millions place. Because 5 millions is larger than 3 millions, 5,000,000 is the greater number.
What happens if both numbers start with the exact same digit in the millions column?

When Millions Match

When the millions digits are equal, slide your eyes one step to the right to compare the hundred thousands place.
Let's compare 4,820,000 and 4,390,000 step by step.
Both numbers share 4 millions, but 8 hundred thousand is greater than 3 hundred thousand. That tells us 4,820,000 > 4,390,000.
Why shouldn't you just look at the digits at the very end?

Don't Start at the Back

A common mistake is looking at the ones or tens place because a number has a big digit like 9 at the end. Even a 9 in the ones place is only worth 9, while a 1 in the millions place is worth 1,000,000!