Find the missing term: 5, 2, 7, 9, 16, 25, ?

41
45
48
52

The missing term is 36. The sequence is a list of squares of consecutive odd numbers.

5 is the square of 2, 7 is the square of 3, 9 is the square of 3, 16 is the square of 4, 25 is the square of 5, and 36 is the square of 6.