How thin does something need to be to have just one side?

Answer 1

Nothing can have only one side as the term side indicates that it is at least 2-dimensional and hence will always have at least 2 sides; e.g. a piece of very thin paper.

If you're refering to a string, it also cannot have one side as no "sides" exist for the hypothetically thinnest string - just a one-dimensional line.

Answer 2

Lots of things only have one side. You can make one yourself. Take a piece of paper and (long edge) cut a strip about 1 1/2 inches wide. The this strip and twist it _once_ and tape the edges (the 1 1/2 inch longs ones) together. You have just created an object with one side, called a Mobius strip. (There should be two dots above the "o). You should convince yourself. Take a crayon or magic marker and start coloring. Note that you'll never have to turn it over, yet you'll have colored the whole thing.

Now you can have some fun. Now, start in the middle and cut your way around the Mobius strip and watch what happens.

Your friends will be amazed! :) If you do an internet search, you should be able to see some pictures in case my words aren't clear enough.

Good luck! :)

Adding to the other comments: Isn't there a book called "FlatLand" or something like that, which basically revolves around a two dimensional universe?

Answer 3

you cant have that, unless you want to go with one of the mobius strip answers you got. even though its super tiny, technically speaking even an atom is 3-D so something an atom thick would still have more than one side.

the only thing that can have one side is something 2-D. in fact, thats pretty much what 2-D means. so while all pieces of paper have two sides, a picture on that piece of paper would only have one side. but a picture doesnt have a 'thickness' because its 2-D

in short, nothing measured in thick or thinness can ever have one side, but 2 dimensional stuff always does.

Answer 4

If you're imagining something like a flat piece of paper getting thinner until it has only one side, I don't think that's possible, as you can always just turn it over to find another side.

However, a Möbius strip has just one side, unless you want to consider the edge to also be a side. But I suppose you can make the edge taper to be an atom's thickness, and you'd have a hard time calling it a second side, then.

Answer 5

Theoretically, when looking at a Möbius strip, for example, you're not supposed to look at the edge as a plane--therefore the Möbius strip has only one side (no matter what the thickness of the paper is).

A sheet of paper has two sides only. Don't look at the edge as a "side."

Now, if the "paper" was three inches thick--that would be certainly discernible enough to call it another side.

It's a tough call, but I'd say as long as it looks like a sheet of paper (you and I and just about everyone else know what a sheet of paper looks like--and can tell when the paper ceases to be a paper and begins to have volume), then it's two-sided.

Likewise for the one-sided Möbius strip: As long as the edge is paper-thin, it's one sided.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Möbius_strip

M.C. Escher's famous drawing of ants traveling along a Möbius strip seems to show that the strip has thickness along the edge, but we still look at it as a one-sided figure. Note: Try tracing a line along that edge of the Möbius strip; where does it take you?

http://www.cut-the-knot.org/do_you_know/moebius.shtml

Answer 6

no matter how thin the object is. there'll will be always an opposite side. sides differ depending on the shape,( triangle, square etc.)

Answer 7

Since it'll be three dimensional, no matter how thin you make it, there'll always be a second side.

Answer 8

The logic that supports a belief in God is just that thin.

Answer 9

simple.You cant.No matter how thin u get

Answer 10

10 power - infinity