Let's break this down. We're going to add 5542 and 5424 together.

Step 1: We'll start by adding the digits 2 & 4 in column 1 and get 6.

Step 2: We'll start by adding the digits 4 & 2 in column 2 and get 6.

Step 3: We'll start by adding the digits 5 & 4 in column 3 and get 9.

Step 4: We'll start by adding the digits 5 & 5 in column 4 and get 10.
We'll write down the last digit 0 and carry the 1 to the next column.

So, 5542 + 5424 = 10966.

