You gotta know when to hold, when to fold...

[khaosworks]

Student folds paper 12 times!

A high-school student has defied the received wisdom that it is impossible to fold a paper more than eight times by folding one twelve times:

For extra credit in a math class Britney was given the challenge to fold anything in half 12 times. After extensive experimentation, she folded a sheet of gold foil 12 times, breaking the record. This was using alternate directions of folding. But, the challenge was then redefined to fold a piece of paper. She studied the problem and was the first person to realize the basic cause for the limits. She then derived the folding limit equation for any given dimension. Limiting equations were derived for the case of folding in alternate directions and for the case of folding in a single direction using a long strip of paper. The merits of both folding approaches are discussed, but for high numbers of folds, single direction folding requires less paper.

Link to full article...

I wonder if she's thought about the possible military applications in the classroom environment. You know. Paper pellets propelled by rubber bands. I used to be pretty good at folding them in the day.

Comments

[opadit.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link. For what it's worth, I remember being told that the limit was eleven, not eight, but I guess that's moot now.