How come when you lick something really cold, your tongue sticks to it??

Question: How come when you lick something really cold, your tongue sticks to it??

Asked by xxxkeahxxx to Paula, Emma, Marianne, AndrewL, Andrew on 21 Jun 2010 in Categories: General.

0Short link http://ias.im/22.8779 | Comment on this question

Andrew Leitch answered on 21 Jun 2010:

keah, I presume this happens because your tongue is always moist and if it touches something very cold the moisture on your tongue freezes too, forming a bridge between the thing and your tongue.

This is not a sport I’d recommend. The tongue should be preserved it is a very useful piece of equipment.

0
Marianne Baker answered on 21 Jun 2010:

I think, keah, because the low temperature freezes your saliva too and because it’s really in between all the little bumps on your tongue, it makes you stick to it!

It can be really dangerous actually; I’ve read about kids licking frozen lamp posts in very cold countries and having to have the tips of their tongues cut off to separate them!

That may be a scare story that grown-ups tell them but it’s certainly very painful if it happens; you could lose some of your taste buds (which would be rubbish!) and it would take a long time to set you free; as you’d have to warm up the metal/ice/tongue very slowly to avoid damage.

Sometimes people just try to rip themselves free and end up taking off a whole layer of their tongue! Not a good plan.

0
Paula Gilfillan answered on 21 Jun 2010:

Hi xxxkeahxxx! Your tongue is moist, and that thin layer of moisture freezes when it encounters a cold surface that conducts heat too rapidly for the tongue’s warmth to melt the ice. The tongue bonds well with the ice, because it has a porous surface:)

0
Andrew Maynard answered on 21 Jun 2010:

Hi xxxheahxxx,

If the thing you are licking is cold enough, it freezes the saliva on your tongue before your tongue can warm the surface up – so your tongue gets frozen to it!

In places like Illinois and other northern States in America, kids have to be warned not to lick lamp posts in the winter – there’s always some kid somewhere who gets their tongue frozen to a lamp post!

But why American kids would want to lick a lamp post in the first place – who knows!

0

Comments

AndrewL commented on 21 Jun 2010:

Oh dear Paula, a better paraphrase or a reference needed for above comment! Little bit plagiarism-tastic

‘Your tongue is moist, and that thin layer of moisture freezes when it encounters a cold metal that conducts heat too rapidly for the tongue’s warmth to melt the ice. The tongue bonds well with the ice, because it has a porous surface.’ is from:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071202125611AAYVmJZ

Of course, I only know this because I read that answer too.

0 Log in to Reply
- Paula commented on 21 Jun 2010:
  
  Hi Andrew L – as I only have limited access to this site (due to MOD restrictions) for 2 hours a day and loads of other questions to answer, plus my own work to do…………..a little plagiarism goes a long way to letting me answer the other questions!!!!:)
  
  0 Log in to Reply
  
  Keith commented on 22 Jun 2010:
  
  So, plagiarism is ok if you run out of time? Don’t think so … I examined a PhD thesis where the candidate used the same argument. We (the two examiners) recommend “no award”, and the university launched an academic misconduct inquiry which upheld that decision.
  
  0 Log in to Reply
  
  AndrewL commented on 22 Jun 2010:
  
  Agree Keith. Important students hear that message despite friendly atmosphere here.
  
  0 Log in to Reply
  
  Andrew commented on 23 Jun 2010:
  
  Although there’s a big difference between conveying information (as here) and generating new information (as in a thesis)!
  
  0 Log in to Reply
  
  AndrewL commented on 23 Jun 2010:
  
  Agree Andrew but important to allow students to know where answers are sourced from. Good for them to know that we don’t have all the answers in our heads (even if they are at our fingertips). I think that regardless of opinion this is an important discussion.
  
  0
  
  Paula commented on 23 Jun 2010:
  
  Thank you Andrew for bringing this issue into context.
  
  0
xxxkeahxxx commented on 21 Jun 2010:

Thanks! I just really wanted to know that, i watched it on ice age and wanted to know why it happened! Now you have all told me, it seems really obvious!

0 Log in to Reply
omegaginge commented on 24 Jun 2010:

I wanna try licking a really cold lampost, seems like the kind of thing i’d do but i dont really fancy my tounge being cut off…

0 Log in to Reply