Just an amazing fact to do with mathematics

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

My grandkids have this card game called “more or less” which has cards with facts written on them that you have to answer more or less..

anyway one of them has an amazing answer..

if you folded a sheet of paper in half 42 times would its thickness be more or less than …………..

what figure have i missed out?

Edited By Ian Parkin on 24/09/2022 19:25:28

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

BTW i know that you cant fold any sheet of paper in half more than 8 times ( i think)

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

planet earth?

I thought the max possible was 16 or something

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

I don't think that you can fold a sheet of paper in half 42 times

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

You are way off ADY1

[Tom SheppardParticipant @tomsheppard60052]

Assuming about 7thou sheet thickness, somewhere near the distance from Earth to Venus.

Edited By Tom Sheppard on 24/09/2022 19:47:53

[Anonymous]

Given that the thickness is said to be more or less than a number then any number satisfies that criteria, unless it is the number that exactly represents the thickness of the folded paper.

Andrew

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

The distance to the Moon

-ish depending of course on the thickness of your paper

t x (2^42) if my memory serves me

MichaelG.

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

That was the figure on the card ( distance to the moon)

so answer was more …..quoted 439 thousand km. moon average 384 thousand km

[Ches Green UKParticipant @chesgreenuk]

if you folded a sheet of paper in half 42 times would its thickness be more or less than …………..

Less than three times the paper's thickness. Fold the paper in half, open it out, fold it in half again etc etc. It will always end up twice it's thickness.

The Q says the 'sheet of paper' is folded, not the folded sheet is folded.

Ches

[john halfpennyParticipant @johnhalfpenny52803]

No change in thickness of the sheet of paper

[Ches Green UKParticipant @chesgreenuk]

No change in thickness of the sheet of paper

Ah, that's the answer

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

A question in comprehending words actually said or printed, and logic, rather than indices and base-2 logarithms!

One for the budding King's Counsels – or if failing in that ambition, insurance-policy creators – among the grand-children?

[peak4Participant @peak4]

It reminds me of The King, The Sage, and a game of chess
https://purposefocuscommitment.medium.com/the-rice-and-the-chess-board-story-the-power-of-exponential-growth-b1f7bd70aaca

Bill

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

As well as generating sufficient thickness to get to the moon, folding 42 times also reduces the surface area of the top dramatically. If the sheet of paper is a square metre (1000000 sq mm), then

1000000/2^42 = 0.0000002274 sq mm (0.0005mm X 0.0005mm)

From an engineering perspective a sheet of paper folded 42 times isn't a practical structure!

Dave

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

So after each fold you slit the paper with a stanley knife and stack it

Eventually you end up with a very small tall book

so 2 * 2

42times

multiplied by 0.1mm paper= 1mm

/ 1000 =metres

/ 1000 =kilometers

439,804 Km

Edited By Ady1 on 25/09/2022 10:02:50

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