Definition
Compose a number
To compose a number is to join parts whose values make that whole number.
What it means
Think of building the whole from value-parts. Choose parts and put their values together. Different parts can build the same number, as long as their total stays equal to the whole.
Remember it
Compose builds the whole from parts.
Example
Compose 63 from place-value parts: 60 + 3 = 63. Another composition is 50 + 13 = 63, because those parts make the same total.
Watch for
Writing the digits 6 and 3 beside each other forms the numeral 63, but the value-parts being composed are 60 and 3, not 6 and 3.
Common mix-up
Compose puts parts together. Decompose starts with the whole and separates it into parts while keeping the same value.
Exact meaning
To compose a number is to form it by combining parts whose values make the same total. The parts may be regrouped in different ways while the composed number remains unchanged.