Okay, we are tasked with adding 7172 and 5486. Let's begin!

Step 1: We'll start by adding the digits 2 & 6 in column 1 and get 8.

Step 2: We'll start by adding the digits 7 & 8 in column 2 and get 15.
We'll write down the last digit 5 and carry the 1 to the next column.

Step 3: We'll start by adding the digits 1 & 4 in column 3 and get 6.

Step 4: We'll start by adding the digits 7 & 5 in column 4 and get 12.
We'll write down the last digit 2 and carry the 1 to the next column.

So, 7172 + 5486 = 12658.

