Final answer:
The value of the first 5 in the millions place (representing 5,000,000) is indeed 10 times greater than the value of the second 5 in the hundred thousands place (representing 500,000) in California's population figure.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks if the value of the first 5 in California’s population is 10 times as great as the value of the second 5. This question is related to place value in numbers, a concept in math where each digit in a number has a specific place value depending on its position.
To illustrate this with an example, let us consider a hypothetical population number for California such as 15,500,000. In this number, the first 5 is in the millions place, meaning it represents 5 million, or 5,000,000. The second 5 is in the hundred thousands place, meaning it represents 500,000. The value of the first 5 is indeed 10 times as great as the value of the second 5 because 5,000,000 is 10 times greater than 500,000.
The principle that is being applied here is that each move to the left in a whole number increases the place value by a factor of 10. So, in positional notation, every digit is 10 times more significant than the one to its immediate right.