Help! with the final class task.

Hi everyone,

I have done the last task that Mike asks us to do.

and here is the code:

int main()
{

    int r = 1;
    char ans;

    while (r != 0){

    		    printf("Please input the first litter of the name that you are looking for!\n");

    		    scanf("%c", &ans);

		    switch(ans){

				case 'P': printf("\nThe Name Is: Paul,      The Gender Is: Male!\n");
				break;

				case 'a': printf("\nThe Name Is: alex,      The Gender Is: Male!\n");
				break;

				case 'G': printf("\nThe Name Is: Glen,      The Gender Is: Male!\n");
				break;

				case 'A': printf("\nThe Name Is: Agata,     The Gender Is: Female!\n");
				break;

				case 'M': printf("\nThe Name Is: Mike,      The Gender Is: Male!\n");
				break;

				case 'I': printf("\nThe Name Is: Ismail,    The Gender Is: Male!\n");
				break;

				default : printf("\nThe name that you are looking for is not found!\n");
				r=0;

    				}

		    scanf("%c", &ans);

    		    }

}

But I could not run it correctly without the last "scanf("%c", &ans);" statement.

So, I need your help Mike to explain why it is necessary here?

Regards,

Mohammad.