Final answer:
To convert 1008 to a perfect square, we factorize it to 2^4×3^2×7. We see that only 7 is to an odd power. Multiplying by another 7 gives us a perfect square, but option 7 was not listed among the choices.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is asking for the smallest whole number by which 1008 should be multiplied to make it a perfect square. To find this, we can break down 1008 into its prime factors. 1008 can be factored into 24×32×7. For a number to be a perfect square, all primes in its prime factorization should appear to an even power. Here, we have 24 (which is already an even power), 32 (also an even power), but we have 7 to the power of 1 (which is odd). Therefore, we need to multiply 1008 by another 7 to balance the 7's power to an even number, making it 72. This makes the answer B) 7, which is not in the provided choices, so there may have been an error in the question or available choices.