Braingle: 'Folding Paper' Brain Teaser

Folding Paper

Science brain teasers require understanding of the physical or biological world and the laws that govern it.

Puzzle ID:	#756
Fun:	(2.25)
Difficulty:	(1.39)
Category:	Science
Submitted By:	beans
Corrected By:	phrebh

What is the most amount of times that a dry, square piece of ordinary paper can be folded in half?

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Comments

Don Ray Dec 08, 2001	Wrong. One "correct" answer would be "once", because on the second fold you would have folded it into quarters, etc. Another "correct" answer would be closer to infinite than 7, because if you folded it in half, UNFOLDED IT, then REfolded it in half, you would have folded the paper in half twice. You could continue to do that until the fibers in the paper completely broke, leaving you with 2 separate sheets of paper.
lil_thugsta Mar 10, 2002	it also depends on how big the paper is
sparkle Jun 07, 2002	I can fold tracing paper in half more than 7 times and tin foil (even though it's not paper) lots more!
cathalmccabe Aug 13, 2002	The point is how many times can you keep folding the paper over on itself in half. YOu can only do it 7 times regardless of the size of the paper
electronjohn Nov 12, 2002	Wouldn't the thickness of the paper make a difference as to how many times it could be folded?
jimbo Nov 26, 2003	I managed 8 times starting with some thin tissue paper. Is there any reason for the 7?
mad-ade Nov 27, 2003	I tried it with just standard A4 sized paper and couldn't manage more than 7 real folds, the "8th" was little more than bending the chunk of paper, but not a real fold.
tsimkin Dec 15, 2004	I have heard people state 7 folds as an absolute truth before, and have to disagree. The number of folds has little (or nothing) to do with the size of the original paper, but an awful lot to do with the thickness of the paper. The problem with folding it consecutive times is that the thickness at the fold increases exponentially, and will be 2^7 times the thickness of the paper itself on the 7th fold. If you start with microscopically thin paper, then the new thickness (while still 128 times the initial thickness) would be, umm, microscopic. The 128 times piece is the killer. If a 500 sheet ream of paper is 2 inches thick (my estimate), then the 8th fold would get you to just about an inch of thickness of paper. Therein lies the problem. The half inch fold is okay, but you can't get much further than that. Use tissue paper, or something similar, and you aren't at those same limits.
timber_wolf_789 Jul 03, 2005	It says 'how many times can you fold a dry SQUARE piece of paper in half?' The answer would really be 'once' because once you fold it in half it's not square anymore, it's rectangular.
TehIgnored Apr 10, 2006	Hence the "regular piece of paper" not tissue paper, not tin foil....not anything thick or thin.....this should have been an easy teaser, and the same thing keeps happening....people either get it wrong and are bitter, or are know it all's and try to find a way to make the answer wrong. This answer is correct, and this teaser was well written....I understand exactly what he meant, and knew the answer, thanks to Mr. Wizard .....back off people and just have fun with this.
Vigo95 May 21, 2006	exactly
yoyoyo Jun 04, 2006	http://pomonahistorical.org/12times.htm 12 Times.
Stormcrafter Nov 09, 2006	If you are very careful, and fold it and keep the fold down to a fine point without any creases besides the actual fold, I managed 8 folds. I just tried then... :-\ Though I have heard the seven one before, and find it very silly
jsdodgers Jan 18, 2007	i knew that
shane91592 Feb 03, 2007	They actually tried this on Mythbusters, and most of the time they only got 7 folds. But with a very, very, very, very large piece of paper, they were able to get 12 folds.
Brock Jun 18, 2007	cool
fedex337 Jun 28, 2007	i really enjoy this myth however it was busted on mythbusters when they took a GINORMOUS peice of paper and folded it in half like.... 10 or 12 times... it was really cool but i do love this teaser good job
merrimackxc2010 Jul 07, 2007	he said ordinary paper... the answer is 7. doesnt matter how big it is... it is 7! good teaser!
WCCope Aug 02, 2007	The teaser said normal paper, as in normal thickness, and size. You can easily beat this if you use thiner or MUCH larger paper (you have to more than double the size for each extra fold). But that would violate the rules of the teaser
cheesepie Feb 09, 2008	Well it depends on what kind of paper is "normal" to you. If you don't write but you blow your nose a lot and you count it as paper then that's your "normal" paper. brain hurts now
uhhhh Apr 06, 2008	One complete answer to all that everyone was saying. It is truely 7. I tried this 1/2 a year ago and me and my mother desided to try out an experiment. We had a puny sheet, a printer sheet of paper, and a huge poster. All were folded 7 times before they were like smushed and couldn't move.
sageowl3106 Sep 30, 2009	What happens if you press each fold down wth tons of weight?
racoonieboy Jul 16, 2010	To everyone who tries to disprove this: YOU'RE WRONG. Take an ORDINARY dry piece of paper. How many times can you fold it in HALF?