>>>On the 1st day of Xmas, my true love gave to me:
>>>1 item
>>>On the 2nd day of Xmas, my true love gave to me:
>>>2 items + 1 item
>>>On the 3rd day of Xmas, my true love gave to me:
>>>3 items + 2 items + 1 item
>>>.
>>>.
>>>On the n-1 day of Xmas, my true love gave to me:
>>>n-1 items + n-2 items + ... + 1 item
>>>On the nth day of Xmas, my true love gave to me:
>>>n items + n-1 items + ... + 1 item
>>>
>>>How many total items did my true love give to me, as a function of n?
>>
>>Number of gifts = gifts(n)
>>
>>
>>FUNCTION gifts(n)
>>lnReturn = 0
>>FOR I = 1 TO n
>> FOR H = 1 TO I
>> lnReturn = lnReturn + H
>> ENDFOR
>>ENDFOR
>>RETURN lnReturn
>>
>>
>>not arithmetic, but it works
>
>Er, yes, but there is an elegant mathematical solution that even a computer would like! (no looping involved)


Maybe it can be : Gifts = (n+1) * (n/2) ??