Let's break this down. We're going to add 8453 and 5542 together.

Step 1: We'll start by adding the digits 3 & 2 in column 1 and get 5.

Step 2: We'll start by adding the digits 5 & 4 in column 2 and get 9.

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

Step 4: We'll start by adding the digits 8 & 5 in column 4 and get 13.
We'll write down the last digit 3 and carry the 1 to the next column.

So, 8453 + 5542 = 13995.

