How many times can you fold a piece of paper?

[Rincewind SW]

I recently remembered something I'd heard ages ago about the amount of times it is physically possible to fold any pice of paper. I think it was something like "you can only fold a piece of paper 8 times". This is an incredibly vague statement... I mean couldn't the paper be astronomically big? Or thick? And what classes as a fold?

 

I didn't know what category it belonged in. Anyone heard this before or something similar? Anyone know the answer?

[rakuenso]

try it out yourself... its true

[gib65]

I just tried with a piece of 8 by 11 and I couldn't get passed the 6th fold. I'm sure it would also have to do with the thickness. No matter how big the sheet of paper is doubling of thickness after every fold would be the same amount. After about 6 to 8 folds, it would probably be very hard to get more folds with the same degree of sharpness. I'm sure with a paper that is astronomically big you could get way more than 8 folds out of it so long as you had no limitations on how "sharp" a fold had to be.

[Xyph]

I heard 7, but either number isn't true, since you could obviously get more or less folds by decreasing or increasing the thickness of the paper without changing its size.

[Mobius]

this is completly vague as you pointed out...

 

8 is standard for 'normal' paper, but it really depends on what type of paper it is and how you fold it....

[Douglas]

I tried it with a Kleenex (facial tissue) and got 7 1/2 folds, meaning I couldn't quite get it to a flat 8th fold

[Mokele]

I can fold it dozens of times, maybe hundreds. There's a trick to it, is all.

[eruheru]

i beleive its seven, but it has to be almost exactly in half

[swansont]

I can fold it dozens of times, maybe hundreds. There's a trick to it, is all.

 

Without unfolding.

[Kyrisch]

It never says fold it in half... I think that's the trick. And, I ask again, what does your sig mean?

[Mokele]

Without unfolding.

 

Damn, you got me.

[swansont]

It never says fold it in half... I think that's the trick. And, I ask again, what does your sig mean?

 

answered in post 14 (though it is easily Googled)

[Kyrisch]

Yeah, I know; I read that thread after re-posting the question... Sorry.

[JonM]

what if you run over the paper with your car (or hypothetically some kind of crushing machine) after the 5th 6th, 7th fold, then you might be able to fold it more... no?

[Rincewind SW]

what if you run over the paper with your car (or hypothetically some kind of crushing machine) after the 5th 6th, 7th fold, then you might be able to fold it more... no?

 

Probably.

 

I doubt you could fold it hundreds of times without unfolding or just folding corners or something. I tried it but decided it proved nothing since my paper was A4. If you had paper thin enough to cut someone in half with a papercut obviously it'd be able to fold more.

 

I tried it with a Kleenex (facial tissue) and got 7 1/2 folds, meaning I couldn't quite get it to a flat 8th fold.

 

A tissue? It's not proper paper is it? Anyway I'm beginning to think that it only meant A4.

[tash =)]

what if you run over the paper with your car (or hypothetically some kind of crushing machine) after the 5th 6th, 7th fold, then you might be able to fold it more... no?

I reckon the paper would rip before you got in the 8th or 9th folds...

[Bio-Hazard]

Umm.. origami? I can fold a piece of paper more than 8 times.. it depends on how you fold it..

hmm. damn i got seven..i'm guessing keeping it rectangular you guys mean.

[The Thing]

I remember something about 9 times being the maximum times and the paper gets to 512 layers, and that's how I remembered that 2^9 equals 512 all the time.

Can you get to ten if you try to fold the paper with a gigantic machine?

[Callipygous]

Umm.. origami? I can fold a piece of paper more than 8 times.. it depends on how you fold it..

hmm. damn i got seven..i'm guessing keeping it rectangular you guys mean.

 

 

folding in half each time. there are plenty of different folds that keep it rectangular.