When folding any peice of paper.......?

Question

......of any size, always in half, end over end, why can you not fold it more than 8 times?

Answer 1

1 fold = 2 sheets
2 folds = 4 sheets
3 folds = 8 sheets
4 folds = 16 sheets
5 folds = 32 sheets
6 folds = 64 sheets
7 folds = 128 sheets
8 folds = 256 sheets

The average thickness of a regular copy paper ranges from 0.05 to 0.10 millimeters.

So, at 6 folds, we are looking at 64 x 0.05 = 3.2 mm

At 7 folds, we are looking at 128 x 0.05 = 6.4 mm

And at 8 folds, we are looking at 258 x 0.05 = 12.8 mm

So, bending a stack of paper from 3.2 mm to 6.4 mm on the 7th fold could well be the limit as at the 8th fold, it becomes much harder to fold from 6.4 mm to 12.8 mm.

Answer 2

Each time you fold your layers double. You go from 2 to 4 to 8 etc. the more layers you have, the harer it is to fold. By the time you get to seven folds you already have 128 layers.

Answer 3

because that would be like folding 256 pieces of paper flat at the same time!

Answer 4

The stack of paper gets thicker and thicker(exponentially)
I remember seeing this on Mr. Wizard like 25 years ago

Answer 5

the tension builds up, creating immense presure.....or it just gets too small