To compare numbers we start from the left of each number. Both of these numbers have 4 digits. The leftmost digit is the thousands place.
3,176 & 3,472
The thousands places both show 3. Both numbers are 3 thousand and something. The thousands places are equal and are not enough to compare the numbers.
3,176 & 3,472
The hundreds places show a 1 and a 4. The digit 1 in the hundreds place means 100. The digit 4 in the hundreds place means 400. Since 4 is greater than 1, by comparing the digits in the hundreds place, we can already tell which number is greater.
