Final answer:
Whole numbers include 0, 1, 2, 3, and so on; they are all non-negative integers and include zero. The correct answer to the student's question is c) Whole numbers.
Step-by-step explanation:
The numbers such as 0, 1, 2, 3, and so on are referred to as whole numbers. These are the set of all non-negative integers, including zero. The correct answer to the question is c) Whole numbers. Integers include all whole numbers as well as their negative counterparts, while natural numbers are the set of counting numbers from 1 onwards, excluding zero.
Rational numbers are numbers that can be expressed as a fraction of two integers where the denominator is not zero, which includes whole numbers but also includes fractions and decimals that can be simplified to a fraction. By definition, whole numbers are exact numbers, as they are used to count objects and do not include fractions or decimals.
Here are some examples of each category of numbers: