What does the 8 stand for in the Cantor pairing function?

Question

1. What does the "8" stand for in the Cantor pairing function (which assigns a natural number to each pair of natural numbers)?
2. Can I change it, or is it constant?
3. The other function for getting the unique number when you use the two inputs, doesn't use "8" in its calculations, so why did the 8 gives us the right answer?

Below is the formula to find x and y such that π(x, y) = 1432:

8 × 1432 = 11456,

11456 + 1 = 11457,

√11457 = 107.037,

107.037 − 1 = 106.037,

106.037 ÷ 2 = 53.019,

⌊53.019⌋ = 53,

so w = 53;

53 + 1 = 54,

53 × 54 = 2862,

2862 ÷ 2 = 1431,

so t = 1431;

1432 − 1431 = 1,

so y = 1;

53 − 1 = 52,

so x = 52; thus π(52, 1) = 1432.

To calculate π(52, 1):

52 + 1 = 79,

53 + 1 = 54,

53 × 54 = 2862,

2862 ÷ 2 = 1431,

1431 + 1 = 1432,

so π(52, 1) = 1432.