How many Gummy Bears are in the jar?
Introduction
Kids and adults alike want to know how many gummy bears are in a jar.
Mostly though, this is a question that comes up while at a school event or local fair when presented with a jar full of the colorful, chewy bear-shaped gummies.
If you love gummy bears, you may really want to be the winner of the jar full of this delicious candy.
So, how do you know how many gummy bears are in a jar?
What are Gummy Bears?
Gummy bears are gelatin-based candies that are soft and chewy.
They were first made in 1864, though back then, they were called ‘jelly babies.’
In the 1920s, they were called gummy bears. Ever since, gummy candy manufacturers have been making all kinds of shapes for gummy candies, though the gummy bears remain one of the most popular of all.
They’re colorful and come in an array of flavors.
They have a long shelf-life too, making them a wonderful treat when you’re in the mood for something fruity and sweet.
Mostly, they are made with gelatin, sugar, corn syrup, starch, food coloring, flavoring, and citric acid.
You can also find them in sugar-free versions that diabetics or those watching their weight can enjoy.
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Finding the Answer
If you want to know how many gummy bears are in that jar, it will depend on a few factors.
For starters, different gummy bear brands will have their own varieties and may include more or less pieces.
It will also depend on the size of the jar.
You can determine this with a little logic.
You’ll first need to determine the volume of your jar, then divide that volume by the size of the candy in question.
Looking at Haribo Gold-Bears Gummi Candies, they weigh about 2.9 grams a piece.
If you have a 64-ounce mason jar, you will likely find about 200 gummy bears in there.
One gummy bear has a mass that is equal to the square root of pi (or 3.14) multiplied by 52.
You get a radius for one gummy bear that equals 75.
It should be noted that those Haribo gummy bears have the largest mass per ounce in the market of these candies.
You will want to measure that radius carefully.
Keep in mind that these numbers will be different depending on the brand of gummy bears you choose.
And if you choose another gummy shape like gummy worms, gummy Cokes, or anything else gummy, that is going to change your estimated contents too.
You also need to measure your jar properly too.
By getting the volume of the jar right, you’ll get closer to the exact number of gummy bears in the jar.
So first, calculate the volume of the jar holding the gummy bears.
Then divide this volume for the jar by the volume calculated for the gummy bears.
It’s the jar volume minus the packing space, which is the space between each gummy bear in the jar.
You then take that and divide it by the volume of your gummy bears.
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General Tips for Finding the Number of Gummy Bears in a Jar
If math isn’t your thing or no one will tell you what size the jar is, you can solve this riddle in another way.
First, you’ll want to do a visual count.
This will work if you’re allowed to pick the jar up.
You look at the bottom of the jar and count how many gummy bears you see there.
Then, you should count the layers of gummy bears.
It’s basic multiplication at its finest.
You’ll count up the jar to find that number, then multiply it by the number you counted on the bottom of the jar.
You can use the calculator on your phone to help with that.
After that, you need to think about the buffer.
There may be more or fewer gummy bears in the jar than you estimated.
With cylindrical jars, you may want to subtract about 20 to account for that packing space. However, gummy bears do fit more closely together, and if you have a bear-shaped vessel to guess the number of gummy bears, you may want to slightly increase your estimated number.
Don’t forget to have fun though. In the end, you may be the winner. But you also may lose out on that jar of gummy bears.
While working out the equation may take you closest to this number, you may wind up going over.
Without knowing the exact size of the jar or the precise size and volume of the gummy bears in it, it will be a bit of a mystery for everyone that attempts a guess.
The equation above will get you close to the number when you are able to determine the volume of the jar and the individual gummy bears. But as each brand varies slightly, you may have to go with these general tips to help you guess the number of how many gummy bears are in a jar.
Much of the time, it won’t be an even number.
If you wind up with a decimal though, you’ve probably gone wrong somewhere in your mathematical calculations.
In that case, start over by counting the bottom and the layers and work at your solution in that way.
You may just be the one going home with an astronomical amount of gummy bears to snack upon!
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