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Folding paper

How could they prove any piece of paper couldn't be fold more than 8 times?


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N bLOG N

Free Knowledge. 

Actually, one can fold more than eight times. This was blogged about on my blog here: http://www.nblogn.com/2005/11/23/folding-paper-in-half-12-times/ and was also discussed on Wolfram here: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Folding.html 

Enjoy.


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Please read the answer I posted :

http://yedda.com/questions/6278915631465/


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The exact answer depends on the paper. The important factor being the width and the size. 

The basic idea is that each time you fold a paper in the middle, you double the layers. After one folding you have 2, after 2 foldings you have 2*2, after three 2*2*2 and so on. After n foldings you have 2^n. The point is that this is an exponential increase with grows very, very fast. E.g. 2^10 is approximately 1000.

If you start with a paper that has a thickness of, say 1/10 mm, you are already at a 10 cm pile. The problem is then that the outer sheet can't be folded anymore in the middle but has to be bend around (try it, you'll see what I mean). If the paper is too small, this just doesn't work any more.  


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