Name: Clarende Duby
Who is asking: Teacher
Level: Middle

Question:
Students want to know: Why the change from commas between every 3rd digit, to spaces instead? For example: Three million three hundred thirty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three written like: 3 333 333 instead of 3,333,333? Does it have something to do with standardizing mathematical notation worldwide?
Thanks!

It is my understanding that the change was made to avoid a possible confusion with the convention used in some European countries, in particular France. In France a comma in a number is used to designate the decimal point, where we would use a period. For example 37.234 in France would be written 37,234.