We Finally Know How Many Licks to the Center of a Tootsie Pop

This world is filled with questions we might never answer: What is the meaning of life? Why did Freaks and Geeks get canceled after one season? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop?

Well, thanks to an enterprising NYU student, we have the answer to one of those at least.

It takes an estimated 1,000 swipes of the tongue per centimeter of candy to reach the center of one’s favorite lollipop, according to a new study published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

This ultimately means that a Tootsie Pop, at approximately 1.063 inches in diameter, would need to be licked about 2,500 times for someone to successfully make it to the middle, according to doctoral student Jinzi Huang and his colleagues at NYU.

 

Jinzi Huang, you may never get the recognition you deserve for this work, like many pioneers before you, but just know that you are appreciated. A lifelong question is now solved. And you are officially wiser than an owl.