Basically title.
My basic physics knowledge says that the larger chips - near the top of a bag of chips - are not “stable”, they are kinda precariously balanced only at one or two points. But once the brittle chips break down, they tend to settle at the bottom because the crumbles are more “stable” there, and are at a lower state of potential energy.
Just my own theory, but would like to know what others think here.
Edit : Does this question not belong to this community ? I couldn’t explain the downvotes…
i’ve seen an explanation of ‘avalanche vs skier’ physics by comparing it to a box of cereal. basically the smaller pieces slip through gaps between bigger ones and end up at the bottom.
that’s why inflatable backpacks got invented. to make the skier as big as possible to avoid getting buried.