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August 27, 2005

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For an experiment in gas expansion, Larry and I took a new bag of potato chips up to Mt. Lemmon with us. About half way up the mountain, the bag began to get a little filled, and by the time we got to the top, it was at a point where we were a little worried, and explosion seemed eminent. But I must say that Lays did a great job in the manufacturing of this particular bag. We could not believe how tight this thing was at the seams, and still did not pop.

During previous trips in different places I had experienced this expansion to the extent where the bag did not maintain structural integrity and released its gases inside. One trip was up and around Pikes Peak, in Colorado. While driving up the road I heard something behind me, and, in the rear-view mirror, saw something moving. As I heard the hiss from a bag, and noticed the smell of potato chips, I turned around to see a couple of bags as they seemed to climb out of the grocery bag they were in. 

Another time was while on a trip from Dallas to Tucson. As I got out into west Texas, in the desert, and had risen quite a bit in altitude, I suddenly heard a very loud "BANG!" that immediately startled me, thinking that something had actually hit the car. But I was out in the middle of nowhere and surely could not have been struck by anything. Then I detected the aroma of barbecue-flavored potato chips, and glanced over to the passenger seat to see them all spewed out of the bag and onto the floor.

Now we all know that gas gradually expands at higher altitudes, as we decrease the amount of atmosphere, up and towards that inevitable vacuum of space. And with this expansion comes all sorts of interesting circumstances that occur to various different objects and even to the human body itself.

So, with that in mind, I don't think I need to go into too much specific detail with what happens during jump run on a skydive airplane. With gas expanding within the bodies of each and every jumper, the results can give you a very good reason to want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

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