Andy had a platter of chocolate cookies. He ate 3 of them then gave his little brother 5 because he was behaving. He then handed the platter to his basketball team of eight members. The first player to arrive took 1, the second player to arrive took 3, the third player took 5, and so on. When the last player took his share, the platter was empty. How many chocolate cookies did Andy have from start with? Think carefully first, then make a decision:
Andy and his brother ate 5 + 3 = 8 cookies in total. The nth term of the sequence for the basketball players taking cookies in 2n - 1. The number of players is 8 so they would have eaten 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13 + 15 = 64 cookies. In total Andy had 64 + 8 = 72 cookies to start with before they were all eaten. So, the answer is 72.