How Many Licks to the Tootsie Roll Center of a Tootsie Pop?

• Activity Number: 610
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 7, 2013 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education
• Author(s): Cory Heid*+
• Companies: Siena Heights University
• Keywords: DOE ; Regression ; Variability

Abstract

The answer to the question, "How many licks to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?" has eluded scholars at many schools e.g., Harvard, Cambridge, University of Michigan, Purdue and Swarthmore. Their solutions have licks ranging from 3481 to 144. Clearly, variability and design are issues in resolving these differences. In an attempt to find an answer to this question, a series of lab tests were performed to determine factors affecting the number of licks. The results of these tests were used to design an experiment with human subjects. Preliminary results using standard statistical techniques including regression analysis were given at the Joint Mathematics Meeting in San Diego, in January. A refined model was then developed and more data collected in an attempt to continue to reduce the variability in the results. These results will be reported in this presentation.