Can you fold a paper more than 7 times Mythbusters?
Rachel Ross
Updated on March 06, 2026
Can you fold a paper more than 7 times Mythbusters?
There’s an old myth that you can’t fold a single sheet of paper in half more than seven times. Thanks to Mythbusters and Britney Gallivan we know that with very specialized (large and thin) sheets of paper, you can fold paper 11 or 12 times respectively.
Is folding paper 8 times possible?
It was an accepted belief that folding a piece of paper in half more than 8 times was impossible. On 27 January 2002, high school student, Britney Gallivan, of Pomona, California, USA, folded a single piece of paper in half 12 times and was the first person to fold a single piece paper in half 9, 10, 11, and 12 times.
What stops a piece of paper from being folded more than seven times?
Using this equation, a standard piece of printer paper has w = 8.5 inches and t = 0.004 inches, so that n = 7. So a standard piece of paper can indeed only be folded seven times. However, if we had an 8.5 x 11 in. sheet of paper that was a quarter as thick as normal, using this equation, we could fold it nine times.
What happens if you fold paper 42 times?
Given a paper large enough—and enough energy—you can fold it as many times as you want . Problem: If you fold it 103 times (only if you could ) , the thickness of your paper will be larger than the observable Universe: 93 billion light-years. Yes,on folding the paper 42 times ,it would reach the moon.
Did Mythbusters fold a paper 8 times?
The Mythbusters Their team of savvy scientists managed to fold their sheet of paper in half eight times without the help of any machinery, but the process did become visibly difficult after seven folds (how easy do you think it is to move 128 layers of a giant sheet of paper?).
What happens if you fold a piece of paper 103 times?
If you fold an A4 sheet of paper 103 times its thickness will roughly be the size of the Universe. Turns out, according to Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, if you do this 103 times the sheet’s thickness will be larger than the observable Universe: 93 billion light-years.
What if we fold a paper 50 times?
In fact, if you had a sheet of paper, and folded it in half 50 times, how thick would it be? The answer is about 100 million kilometres, which is about two thirds of the distance between the Sun and the Earth.
What happens if you fold a paper 103 times?
What happens if you fold a piece of paper 50 times?
What if we fold a paper 103 times?
Why can paper only be folded 7 times?
It’s commonly accepted that you cannot fold a single sheet of paper in half more than 7 times, no matter what paper finish, size, or basis weight you’re using, for two main reasons: Every time you fold your sheet, you reduce your total surface area by half, so eventually you simply run out of surface area to fold.
How thick is folded 100 times?
With just over 100 folds, the thickness of the paper would be equal to 93 billion light-years. The reason for this is exponential growth. Here’s how the thickness of the paper would grow due to exponential growth.
What is the paper folding myth on MythBusters?
MythBusters, a popular science program on the Discovery Channel, once featured the paper folding myth on its program. They determined that using a larger sheet of paper would make it possible to fold the paper in half more than seven times. MythBusters used a sheet of paper the size of a football field.
How many times can you fold paper in half?
What is the Seven Fold Limit? It’s commonly accepted that you cannot fold a single sheet of paper in half more than 7 times, no matter what paper finish, size, or basis weight you’re using, for two main reasons: Every time you fold your sheet, you reduce your total surface area by half, so eventually you simply run out of surface area to fold.
How many folds can you make on a printer paper?
The sevenfold limit holds true if you are using a standard size sheet of printer paper. However, if you alter the size or thickness of the paper, you can increase the number of folds that are possible.
How many folds does it take to make origami?
In origami, you aren’t folding your paper in half each time you make a crease. Because of this, origami models can be made with many folds. For example, the Red Sea Urchin designed by Hans Birkeland has 913 folds that require over 2,700 creases to be manipulated.