In the sixth grade, and many times since, I’ve heard it claimed that you can double over a piece of paper seven times but never eight, no matter what the paper’s size. Since, as a sixth grader, I could fold the paper in half seven times, I felt certain an Arnold Schwarzenegger could do eight. Why not? Is there something inherent in the mathematics of doubling? Some physical limitation? Or is it simply that the eighth doubling takes more strength than most people have–meaning a sufficiently powerful machine could do it eight times? –S.J. Estes, New York
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
My friend Pablo and I heard this story in sixth grade, too, and we had the same thought that everybody who hears it has: “Gosh, what if you had a piece of paper a mile square and one molecule thick? Couldn’t you fold that in half eight times?” Not having access to paper of these specifications at the time, we were unable to put our conjecture to the test.
Granted, on the tenth fold the finished package was a little bulbous due to trapped air. (We could have popped the bubbles with a needle but didn’t, out of a vague sense that it was cheating.) Still, having easily surpassed seven folds, we felt vindicated. Obviously the wise guy who invented this bogus maxim was generalizing from insufficient evidence, and was probably stinky to boot. (We have a lot of lingering resentments from sixth grade.) Next: proving that stepping on a crack won’t break your mother’s back. Nothing against Mom, but sometimes we all have to make sacrifices for the sake of the greater good.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): illustration/Slug Signorino.
