Why Does My CSS `max-width` Property Leave Excess Padding After Text Wrapping?

Understanding Line Wrapping and CSS Sizing

In CSS, the width and max-width properties define the horizontal size of an element. When an element's content extends beyond its maximum width, it wraps to the next line. However, as demonstrated in the provided example:

#tooltip { 
    position: absolute;
    width:auto;
    min-width:50px;
    max-width:250px;
    padding:10px;
    background-color:#eee;
    border:1px solid #aaa;
}

The max-width property appears to override the width property when content wraps to the next line, leaving excessive padding at the end of the wrapped line.

Normal Behavior Explanation

This behavior is indeed normal. Browsers attempt to flow text inline within an element until it reaches the maximum allowed width. If it cannot fit on the first line, it wraps and continues on subsequent lines.

However, after wrapping, the box will not shrink again to fit the text. This is because text wrapping does not allow for that behavior. The box's width is calculated as the max-width value (in this case, 250px) and is not based on the size of the wrapped text.

Possible Solution

Unfortunately, there is no known CSS solution to change this behavior. Browsers function in this way due to the inherent nature of text wrapping.

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