Absorbency

I noticed something this morning. My breakfast cereals absorb the milk differently.

I think I always knew that, but it registered consciously today. I have to pour more milk in the bowl for some cereals than I do for others. It seems the "puffed" varieties require less milk to make the bowl look full enough but soak up more of it as I eat them, sometimes almost leaving me dry at the end, so I have to compensate by adding more than I think I need. The flakes seem to need more to make the bowl look full, but I often have too much milk left over when the cereal is gone, so I have to compensate for that by using less to begin with.

Now that I think about it, though, I realize that I'm assuming this has to do with cereal absorbency. I do think the "puffed" cereals can take up more fluid than the flakes can, simply because of their more porous nature, but it is possible that what I'm observing has more to do with the cereal's density, making me think that one type needs more milk than another because of some kind of optical illusion effect.

And here I just wanted breakfast.