What is the smallest number that must be added to 2203 to make it a perfect square?
Answer: C
We need to find the nearest perfect square greater than 2203.
We know \(40^2 = 1600\) and \(50^2 = 2500\). The number is between 40 and 50.
Let's try numbers ending in 3 or 7. \(47^2 = (50-3)^2 = 2500 - 300 + 9 = 2209\).
\(46^2 = (47-1)^2 = 2209 - 94 + 1 = 2116\).
The next perfect square after 2203 is 2209.
The number to be added is \(2209 - 2203 = 6\).