Exponent for tens place – UGC NET Question

In 345, the digit 5 is in the units place, 4 in the tens place and 3 in the hundreds place. The tens place corresponds to 10^1, so the value of 4 there is 4×10^1. Therefore, the exponent for the tens place is 1.

Option A:
Option A, exponent 0, refers to the units place where the digit 5 resides. Assigning 10^0 to the tens place would ignore the role of tens in the number.

Option B:
Option B, exponent 2, gives 10^2 = 100, which corresponds to the hundreds place occupied by digit 3. It does not describe the tens place.

Option C:
Option C, exponent 3, would mean a place value of 1000, which is not present in the three-digit number 345. This exponent is not related to the digit 4 in the tens position.

Option D:
Option D is correct because the tens place always carries the weight of 10^1 in decimal positional notation. Thus, 4 in that position contributes 40 to the total value.