Suppose the leftmost digits of two numbers are 8 and 3. how can you tell which one is greater? explain.

If 8 and 3 are the left most digits of two numbers, then there can be a lot of possible numbers:

80 and 30

800 and 300

8000 and 3000

And so on...

However, we can also have

800 and 30

300 and 80

Notice that in different cases the digit 3 can represents a greater number than the digit 8 can.

So, to determine which one is greater, you need to look for the number of units, tens, hundreds, thousands, and so on. For example, if you have that both numbers have just hundreds, then you will observe which hundred-digit is greater.

But, if you have one numer with hundreds, and the other with thousands, then inevitably the number with thousand is greater, because it has more quantity.

Basically, you need to look for units, tens, hundreds, thousands digits and compare.