Final answer:
To make a square or rectangular arrangement with an equal number of rows and columns using 1642 plants, we need to find the nearest perfect square number, which is 1681. This means 39 additional plants are needed, which is not listed among the provided options.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question is about finding out how many more plants are required to arrange 1642 plants in equal rows and columns. To solve this, we need to find the factors of 1642 to see if it can be made into a square or a rectangular grid. A prime factorization of 1642 does not yield a perfect square, which means it cannot be arranged into rows and columns of equal numbers. Instead, we need to find the closest square number that is higher than 1642. Upon inspection, the closest square number after 1642 is 1681, which is 41 squared (41×41=1681).
Therefore, we would need to add 1681 - 1642 = 39 plants to have an equal number of plants in each row and column. None of the given answer choices A (1 plant), B (0 plants), C (3 plants), or D (2 plants) is correct. Since the answer is not presented within the options, either there is a typographical error in the question options, or we need to reconsider our calculation approach if additional context is given.