Question

Tom had some cookies. He ate 5 and gave his brother 3. He then handed them to his ball team of 8 players. The first player took 1, the second player took 3, the third player took 5 and so on. When the last player took his, the platter was empty. How many cookies did Tom start with?

Answer 1

1+3+5+... for 8 terms is 8^2
5+3+64 = 72

Answer 2

5 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 = ?