A "licking machine" designed by Purdue engineering students averaged 341 licks to the center. A similar experiment at the University of Michigan landed on 411 as the magic number. Students at Bellarmine University in Louisville used human subjects and looked at additional factors such as gender and candy color to get to a final number; they found that an orange Tootsie Pop takes an average of 148 licks to consume, while a grape pop averages 198 licks.
A "licking machine" designed by Purdue engineering students averaged 341 licks to the center. A similar experiment at the University of Michigan landed on 411 as the magic number. Students at Bellarmine University in Louisville used human subjects and looked at additional factors such as gender and candy color to get to a final number; they found that an orange Tootsie Pop takes an average of 148 licks to consume, while a grape pop averages 198 licks.