We are asked to write 55555 in expanded form, that is in the appropriate units, tenths, hundreths, etc. So we write :
55555 = 50000 + 5000 + 500 + 50 + 5
which tells us that the number is a combination of 5 (in the column of the tenthousands) as fifty thousand, then a five in the place (or column) of the thousandths giving five thousand, then a five in the place of the hundredths giving five hundred, then a five in the column of the tenths giving fifty, and finally a 5 in the column of the units giving five.
Therefore each 5 represents ten times the value of the 5 located immediately to its right.