Expanded Form of Numbers

• How to write a number as the sum of the values of its digits (expanded form).
• How to go the other way: combine an expanded form back into a standard number.
• Why expanded form helps with addition, subtraction, and understanding place value.

Level 1 — Core idea

Verbal: 356 can be written as "300 plus 50 plus 6".

Symbolic: 356 = 300 + 50 + 6.

Visual: Place-value blocks: 3 hundred-blocks, 5 ten-rods, 6 unit cubes → put together they make 356.

Level 2 — Going deeper

For 2-digit numbers, expanded form only has two parts: tens + ones, e.g. 47 = 40 + 7. For 3-digit numbers with a zero in the middle, we usually skip the zero part, e.g. 205 = 200 + 5 (not 200 + 0 + 5, though both are correct).

NCERT anchor

NCERT Math Mela, Class 3 — Chapter 9 (House of Hundreds) uses expanded form to show how bundles of hundreds, tens, and ones combine into a 3-digit number.

Write 468 in expanded form.

Step 1 — Hundreds digit 4 → 400
Step 2 — Tens digit 6 → 60
Step 3 — Ones digit 8 → 8
Answer: 468 = 400 + 60 + 8

What number is 500 + 30 + 2?

Step 1 — Hundreds part: 500
Step 2 — Tens part: 30
Step 3 — Ones part: 2
Answer: 532

• Write 273 in expanded form.
• What number is 600 + 20 + 4?
• Write 90 + 5 as a single number.
• Stretch: Write 800 + 7 as a 3-digit number. (807 — the tens digit is 0.)

Revision tip: To expand, multiply each digit by its place value; to combine, add the parts together.

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Expanded Form.