The number 5.03 differs from 5.30 because the digits sit in different:

1. Position carries meaning in a decimal. 2. The name of a place corresponds to a power of ten. 3. In 5.03 the 3 is in the hundredths place, read as three hundredths. 4. In 5.30 the 3 would sit in the tenths place instead. 5. So the two differ because the digits sit in different place values. _Source: OpenStax Prealgebra 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 5 'Decimals', sections 5.1-5.7_