Bigger or smaller?

Hello, and welcome to Myriora Maths! Here are two numbers: thirty-eight, and eighty-three. Which one is bigger? Let's find out together!

When do we need to know which number is bigger? Here's one time. Two shops sell the same teddy. This shop wants forty-five pounds. That shop wants fifty-four pounds. Which shop is cheaper? The one with the smaller number: forty-five pounds!

Let's build the two numbers with blocks. Thirty-eight is three tens, and eight ones. Eighty-three is eight tens, and three ones.

So, which one has more? Look at the tens first. Thirty-eight has three tens. Eighty-three has eight tens. Eight tens is much more than three tens! So eighty-three is bigger.

But wait. Why don't we need to look at the ones? Because ten ones make one ten. So even nine ones are smaller than one ten. Thirty-nine is still smaller than forty! That's why the tens decide.

Let's try one together. Which is bigger: fifty-two, or twenty-five? Look at the tens first. Say your answer out loud!

Fifty-two has five tens. Twenty-five has only two tens. So fifty-two is bigger. Well done if you said fifty-two!

What if the tens are the same? Look at forty-seven and forty-two. They both have four tens. So now we look at the ones. Seven ones, and two ones. Seven is more, so forty-seven is bigger.

This works for bigger numbers too. Which is bigger: two hundred and ninety-nine, or three hundred and twelve? Now the biggest place is the hundreds. So we look at the hundreds first. Three hundreds beats two hundreds. So three hundred and twelve is bigger, even though ninety-nine looks big! Always start with the biggest place.

Now a tricky one. Which is bigger: one hundred and twenty-three, or thirty-two? Three is bigger than one, so is thirty-two bigger? No! Let's put them in a place table. One hundred and twenty-three has one hundred. Thirty-two has no hundreds at all. So one hundred and twenty-three is bigger. If one number has more digits, it's the bigger one.

Here's a quick way to write it. Look at this sign, between nine and two. It's like a hungry crocodile's mouth! It always opens towards the bigger number, because it wants to eat the most! Eighty-three is bigger than thirty-eight. Thirty-eight is smaller than eighty-three. And when two numbers are the same, we use the equals sign.

Here's a question that catches lots of people. Which is bigger: twenty-nine, or thirty-one? Some people say twenty-nine, because nine is a big number. But don't look at the end first! Look at the tens. Thirty-one has three tens. Twenty-nine has only two. So thirty-one is bigger.

Your turn! Which one is bigger: sixty-four, or forty-six? Then pick the sign that goes in the gap. You've got fifteen seconds, or pause the video. Go!

Time's up! Sixty-four has six tens. Forty-six has only four tens. So sixty-four is bigger, and the crocodile's mouth opens towards sixty-four.

Quick review. If one number has more digits, it's the bigger one. If they have the same number of digits, start with the biggest place. And the crocodile's mouth opens towards the bigger number. See you next time!