Why You Can Fold A Piece Of Paper Only A Certain Number Of Times
Making paper planes and creating origami is a fun activity, but I’m sure it’s got some people thinking about how many times they can fold a single piece of paper.
For some time, experts believed that number was seven. Then, in 2002, a high school senior named Britney Gallavin proved that a single sheet of paper could be folded in half 12 times.
But why? Mental_floss reports, it is a, “lesson in exponential growth, the idea being that each fold doubles the paper’s thickness, and even with something as thin as paper, quickly you’ll end up with an unmanageable mess, too thick to fold further.”
To prove this, Gallavin used a 4,000-foot sheet of paper and folded in a single direction. She even created a mathematical equation to provide empirical proof that this was possible.
Although most standard pieces of paper won’t be able to fold over that many times, Gallavin proved that you could exceed seven folds. While we’re at it, here are some more interesting facts about paper:
- Paper was invented in China in 105 A.D, and it was initially kept a secret.
- The first paper merchant was Benjamin Franklin, who started 18 paper mills in and around Virginia.
- Nearly three times more paper is recycled than is sent to landfills.
- Each ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees.
- Wisconsin is the number one paper-making state in the United States.
- During their lifetime, one American citizen uses 465 trees for its paper needs.
- The first book printed from industrially-made paper was made in 1804.
Photo by georigami
Photo by georigami