Okay, we are tasked with adding 7209 and 9171. Let's begin!

Step 1: We'll start by adding the digits 9 & 1 in column 1 and get 10.
We'll write down the last digit 0 and carry the 1 to the next column.

Step 2: We'll start by adding the digits 0 & 7 in column 2 and get 8.

Step 3: We'll start by adding the digits 2 & 1 in column 3 and get 3.

Step 4: We'll start by adding the digits 7 & 9 in column 4 and get 16.
We'll write down the last digit 6 and carry the 1 to the next column.

So, 7209 + 9171 = 16380.

