Answer :
17/8 is less than 9/4 because if you turned 17/8 and 9/4 into a mixed number you would get 2 and 1/8 for 17 /8 and 2 1/4 for 9/4
Another easy way to do this multiply 17x4=68 then do the same with 9x8=72 so 72 is bigger so 9/4 is bigger it's called cross multiply hope this helps