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Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff works dot com

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Speaker 1: where smart Happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain with today's question,

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Speaker 1: what is chewing gum made of? Up until World War Two,

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Speaker 1: chewing gum was made of a substance called chickle mixed

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Speaker 1: with flavorings. Chickle is a latex sap that comes from

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Speaker 1: a tree native to Central America. In other words, chickle

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Speaker 1: is a form of rubber. Just like rubber bands don't

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Speaker 1: dissolve when you chew them, neither just chickle. Chickle is

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Speaker 1: a good bit softer than rubber bands that it happens

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Speaker 1: to soften more when it gets warm in your mouth.

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Speaker 1: If you freeze chicken with ice, it gets very stiff.

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Speaker 1: In other words, chickle hardens and softens over a pretty

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Speaker 1: narrow temperature range, close to human body heat, and that

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Speaker 1: makes it good for chewing gum. If you get chickle hot,

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Speaker 1: you can mix it about fifty fifty with sugar and

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Speaker 1: a flavoring like peppermint extract, and you have chewing gum.

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Speaker 1: After World War Two, chemists learned how to make artificial

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Speaker 1: gum bases to replace the chickle. These gum bases are

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Speaker 1: essentially synthetic rubbers. That have the same temperature profile as

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Speaker 1: chickle gum. Basses, either natural or artificial, are mixed with

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Speaker 1: sugar and other flavorings to make chewing gum. When you

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Speaker 1: chew it, the rubber releases these flavorings into your mouth.

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