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drafterman t1_iui4yc2 wrote

The answer is not never, but it's just unlikely.

To help understand this, it might be helpful to consider a 2D rectangle first. Imagine a circle enscribed about the rectangle, like this:

https://imgur.com/a/fbfArUy

Where the diagonals meet (at the center of the rectangle) is the center of gravity (assuming uniform density). However the rectangle lands on the table, if you draw a line from the center of gravity to the table, that line will pass through one of the sides of the rectangle. Whichever side it passes through will be the side it ultimately lands on.

As we can see with the diagram, the angles that will ultimately result in it landing on a long side are so much bigger than the angles that will ultimately result in it landing on a short side.

So whenever the rectangle makes contact with the table, the angle is going to be extremely likely to be one that results in it landing on a long edge rather than a short one.

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