Halloween Quiz - Question Five

[jingverz21]

Harvard Grad students created a rotating mechanical tongue and concluded it took 2255 licks.



Answer: Average 2255 licks

[mihaelacazacu]

My guess is 200+:)

[jacobthomas]

364 Licks

[zorrow]

Reply to @bbetrio3: A few echo’s, but what can you do but look it up on the internet. I wonder if the answer is an actual number, or if the answer from the website would be accepted.



Reply to @madmoo: Never seen/heard of tootsies where i live. The closest i’ve had is a Chuppa Chup Lollipop

[logandee522]

I’d say 758 licks.

[Guest magganator]

I think if its just licks about 1000, but if your s uckin it then maybe it would take 10 mins to vanish

[jawadi19]

144 licks (range 70–222)

[fsupanda]

No one knows because it depends on salivation and amount of time.

[great_tutor123]

A student study at the University of Cambridge concluded that it takes 3,481 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop

Another study by Purdue University concluded that it takes an average of 364 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop using a “licking machine”, while it takes an average of 252 licks

when tried by 20 volunteers. Yet another study by the University of Michigan concluded that it takes 411 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop

but It all depends on a lot of factors like the size of your mouth, the amount of saliva, etc.i will say the world may never know. 🙂

[Guest thcharsha]

Answer: Average 217 licks

[ganka88]

164 licks!

[natjevan]

The world may never know this, as we always bite into it before we get to the center… so maybe 3 to 5 licks before we bite into it. 🙂

[beadyranga]

The world may never know exactly but guess Large licks: 423. Small licks: 752.

[ads_backpage]

The world may never know how many licks it really takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

[prologo1]

196

[bbetrio3]

Reply to @zorrow: I know. I find it fun to see exact answers 🙂 good luck to you!

[tusharkhatiwada]

=D> It might be 2,256 licks… 🙂

[iznu123456]

It depends on a variety of factors such as the size of your mouth, the amount of saliva, etc. Basically, the world may never know.

[Guest platinum]

PROOF!



I have the correct answer and I can prove it.



As an officially confirmed – winner of the Tootsie CleanStick Award – (see award certificate attached --I used whiteout to conceal my real name and protect my identity online), I can confirm along with the experience of others who have scientifically proven the answer to be:



269 licks.



Even MORE PROOF!

252 licks Purdue University Experiment



411 licks University of Michigan Experiment



144 licks Swathmore Junior High School Experiment

____________________________________________________



Average of the three peer reviewed studies: 269 licks!

Even MORE PROOF! TRIPLE THE PROOF!!!



As you can see from the proof provided above, 3 accredited educational institutions have conducted research study experiments and reported their results.



The final results of the experiment at Purdue University is 252 licks.



The final results of the experiment at the University of Michigan is 411 licks.



The final results of the experiment conducted by Swarthmore Junior High School is 144 licks.



Using simple math to verify the average of these three studies, you will also arrive at the average of 269 licks! (Go ahead. Add the 3 final answers from the studies then divide by 3 to get the average of 269 and see for yourself!)



Even MORE PROOF! Four Times the Proof!!!



As if all the proof I’ve already provided wasn’t already enough to win (though it is), I will also provide a link to a source for you to see my findings and statistics directly from the maker of the Tootsie Pop itself at the link below. You will also see they confirm the exact numbers of the school experiments:



http://www.tootsie.com/gal_machine.php



Thank you for the opportunity to win my $40 credit! I will find it very useful and I hope you find my proven verified answer, resources, experience and work to be useful as well.



Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it!



Sincerely,

Platinum

Winner of the Tootsie CleanStick Award for Answering the Question, “How Many Licks Does it Take to Reach the Center of a Tootsie Pop”

[tzezuka]

No one knows. For the owl in the original commercial, it took three licks and then he bit into it. The whole point is that no one will ever know because you can’t resist the great temptation of biting the candy shell to get to the center of a tootsie pop!



This is one of the more profound questions ever posed to humankind and animal alike. To test this hypothesis correctly, you must stop counting the moment that the ‘center’ (the tootsie roll blob at the core of the pop) becomes exposed. That should be considered ‘reaching the center’.

It depends on a variety of factors such as the size of your mouth, the amount of saliva, etc. Basically, the world may never know. According to the producers of Tootsie Poops the consensus seems to be between 600-800 licks

One…two…three… three.

I got a bag of tootsie roll pops once that seemed to be mis-manufactured, and the tootsie roll center was peeking out of the candy on almost all of them… so for that bag, the answer was one. If you wanted to get right to the center… there it was already. So it also depends on the pops you have.

Scientifically: What you have to do is measure the amount of saliva you produce per lick, measure the volume of the Tootsie Pop, find the amount each lick your saliva takes away from the pop, and divide that much by the total volume of the Tootsie Pop.

From Tootsie Roll Inc.: "We’ve been asking the question since 1970. Many have tried to lick their way to the center of the Tootsie Pop, and many have failed for they couldn’t help but bite into it. But for those proud few who do make it to the center, and manage to keep count of how many licks it takes, we hold a special place in our hearts."

I spent three hours counting with my friend we got 765, 902, 730, and 877. So on average about 800.

When asking this matter to the expert on Tootsie pops, Chuck Norris, he explained to me that if you roundhouse kick the tootsie properly it will lick itself, so zero licks!

In an experiment by Miah and Dr. Shin, it was proposed that it takes, on average, 413 licks to get to the center (see links below)

There are many factors that would go into how many licks it takes such as:

acidity of saliva

coarseness of the tongue

how much amylase (enzymes) you have in your mouth

Depends on how you lick it, below are some results

Large licks:423

Small licks:752



There are several factors, needless to say, even if it’s the same person counting, the # of licks will differ at each attempt. If you wanted to look at it semi-scientifically, the number of licks needed depend on these factors:

• Pressure per square inch the tongue is applied to the surface of the tootsie pop (TP)
  
• The average amount of square inch in contact between tongue and TP
  
• At what measurement from the center of the stick of the TP at which you declare that you have reached the center of the TP.
  
• The rotation factor of the TP - if the eater continues to lick one specific portion only to reach the center faster - or if licks are distributed evenly around the outer surface area of TP.
  
  
  
  And to a lesser extent:
  
  
  
  Ambient temperature
  
  Use of teeth / or lack of teeth of eater
  
  Hunger of TP eater
  
  Boredom of TP eater
  
  Age of TP
  
  Lost count of licks
  
  Ran out of time
  
  Amount of saliva in the mouth
  
  The lollipop expired
  
  The temptation was to great and you bite down and took a bite
  
  Tongue size
  

[digitaldna]

A One… a two… a three… and then I crunch to the center lol 😃

[imnitin]

It took 2256 licks on one attempt for a normal raspberry Tootsie Pop to get the center showing.

[sabeyondd]

There are studies that claim on average it takes 252 licks.

[smudged]

Phew! Thanks to everyone who answered this question.

While a lot of your answers are backed by tests from several studies, we were looking for the original answer from the classic Tootsie Roll Advert.



The answer is found in this video:

Well done to @digitaldna for answering the question correctly.



More chances to win later today.