Today's random fact

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Fritzo

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
It's generally accepted that a piece of paper can not be folded in half more than seven times. However, according to The Economist magazine, if you COULD keep folding a piece of paper in half indefinately, it would grow to astronomic heights:

10 folds: the paper would be as wide as your hand
12 folds: height of a stool
14 folds: average size of an adult human
25 folds: height of the Matterhorn
50 folds: distance to the sun
70 folds: 11 light years from Earth
100 folds: radius of the known universe

Get folding!
 
Mo0o

Mo0o

Lifer
Jul 31, 2001
24,227
3
76
hmm... what's the calculation, is it just (Original paper height) * 2^X ?
 
Safeway

Safeway

Lifer
Jun 22, 2004
12,075
11
81
1 lightyear = 3.72461748 × 10^17 inches

0 folds = 0.005 inches = 1.34242E-20 light years
1 fold = 0.01 inches = 2.68484E-20 light years
2 folds = 0.02 inches = 5.36968E-20 light years
3 folds = 0.04 inches = 1.07394E-19 light years
4 folds = 0.08 inches = 2.14787E-19 light years
5 folds = 0.16 inches = 4.29574E-19 light years
6 folds = 0.32 inches = 8.59149E-19 light years
7 folds = 0.64 inches = 1.7183E-18 light years
8 folds = 1.28 inches = 3.43659E-18 light years
9 folds = 2.56 inches = 6.87319E-18 light years
10 folds = 5.12 inches = 1.37464E-17 light years
11 folds = 10.24 inches = 2.74928E-17 light years
12 folds = 20.48 inches = 5.49855E-17 light years
13 folds = 40.96 inches = 1.09971E-16 light years
14 folds = 81.92 inches = 2.19942E-16 light years
15 folds = 163.84 inches = 4.39884E-16 light years
16 folds = 327.68 inches = 8.79768E-16 light years
17 folds = 655.36 inches = 1.75954E-15 light years
18 folds = 1310.72 inches = 3.51907E-15 light years
19 folds = 2621.44 inches = 7.03815E-15 light years
20 folds = 5242.88 inches = 1.40763E-14 light years
21 folds = 10485.76 inches = 2.81526E-14 light years
22 folds = 20971.52 inches = 5.63052E-14 light years
23 folds = 41943.04 inches = 1.1261E-13 light years
24 folds = 83886.08 inches = 2.25221E-13 light years
25 folds = 167772.16 inches = 4.50441E-13 light years
26 folds = 335544.32 inches = 9.00883E-13 light years
27 folds = 671088.64 inches = 1.80177E-12 light years
28 folds = 1342177.28 inches = 3.60353E-12 light years
29 folds = 2684354.56 inches = 7.20706E-12 light years
30 folds = 5368709.12 inches = 1.44141E-11 light years
31 folds = 10737418.24 inches = 2.88282E-11 light years
32 folds = 21474836.48 inches = 5.76565E-11 light years
33 folds = 42949672.96 inches = 1.15313E-10 light years
34 folds = 85899345.92 inches = 2.30626E-10 light years
35 folds = 171798691.8 inches = 4.61252E-10 light years
36 folds = 343597383.7 inches = 9.22504E-10 light years
37 folds = 687194767.4 inches = 1.84501E-09 light years
38 folds = 1374389535 inches = 3.69002E-09 light years
39 folds = 2748779069 inches = 7.38003E-09 light years
40 folds = 5497558139 inches = 1.47601E-08 light years
41 folds = 10995116278 inches = 2.95201E-08 light years
42 folds = 21990232556 inches = 5.90402E-08 light years
43 folds = 43980465111 inches = 1.1808E-07 light years
44 folds = 87960930222 inches = 2.36161E-07 light years
45 folds = 1.75922E+11 inches = 4.72322E-07 light years
46 folds = 3.51844E+11 inches = 9.44644E-07 light years
47 folds = 7.03687E+11 inches = 1.88929E-06 light years
48 folds = 1.40737E+12 inches = 3.77858E-06 light years
49 folds = 2.81475E+12 inches = 7.55715E-06 light years
50 folds = 5.6295E+12 inches = 1.51143E-05 light years
51 folds = 1.1259E+13 inches = 3.02286E-05 light years
52 folds = 2.2518E+13 inches = 6.04572E-05 light years
53 folds = 4.5036E+13 inches = 0.000120914 light years
54 folds = 9.0072E+13 inches = 0.000241829 light years
55 folds = 1.80144E+14 inches = 0.000483658 light years
56 folds = 3.60288E+14 inches = 0.000967315 light years
57 folds = 7.20576E+14 inches = 0.001934631 light years
58 folds = 1.44115E+15 inches = 0.003869261 light years
59 folds = 2.8823E+15 inches = 0.007738523 light years
60 folds = 5.76461E+15 inches = 0.015477046 light years
61 folds = 1.15292E+16 inches = 0.030954092 light years
62 folds = 2.30584E+16 inches = 0.061908183 light years
63 folds = 4.61169E+16 inches = 0.123816366 light years
64 folds = 9.22337E+16 inches = 0.247632732 light years
65 folds = 1.84467E+17 inches = 0.495265465 light years
66 folds = 3.68935E+17 inches = 0.99053093 light years
67 folds = 7.3787E+17 inches = 1.981061859 light years
68 folds = 1.47574E+18 inches = 3.962123718 light years
69 folds = 2.95148E+18 inches = 7.924247437 light years
70 folds = 5.90296E+18 inches = 15.84849487 light years
71 folds = 1.18059E+19 inches = 31.69698975 light years
72 folds = 2.36118E+19 inches = 63.39397949 light years
73 folds = 4.72237E+19 inches = 126.787959 light years
74 folds = 9.44473E+19 inches = 253.575918 light years
75 folds = 1.88895E+20 inches = 507.1518359 light years
76 folds = 3.77789E+20 inches = 1014.303672 light years
77 folds = 7.55579E+20 inches = 2028.607344 light years
78 folds = 1.51116E+21 inches = 4057.214688 light years
79 folds = 3.02231E+21 inches = 8114.429375 light years
80 folds = 6.04463E+21 inches = 16228.85875 light years
81 folds = 1.20893E+22 inches = 32457.7175 light years
82 folds = 2.41785E+22 inches = 64915.435 light years
83 folds = 4.8357E+22 inches = 129830.87 light years
84 folds = 9.67141E+22 inches = 259661.74 light years
85 folds = 1.93428E+23 inches = 519323.48 light years
86 folds = 3.86856E+23 inches = 1038646.96 light years
87 folds = 7.73713E+23 inches = 2077293.92 light years
88 folds = 1.54743E+24 inches = 4154587.84 light years
89 folds = 3.09485E+24 inches = 8309175.68 light years
90 folds = 6.1897E+24 inches = 16618351.36 light years
91 folds = 1.23794E+25 inches = 33236702.72 light years
92 folds = 2.47588E+25 inches = 66473405.44 light years
93 folds = 4.95176E+25 inches = 132946810.9 light years
94 folds = 9.90352E+25 inches = 265893621.8 light years
95 folds = 1.9807E+26 inches = 531787243.5 light years
96 folds = 3.96141E+26 inches = 1063574487 light years
97 folds = 7.92282E+26 inches = 2127148974 light years
98 folds = 1.58456E+27 inches = 4254297948 light years
99 folds = 3.16913E+27 inches = 8508595896 light years
100 folds = 6.33825E+27 inches = 17017191793 light years

Zing.
 
Safeway

Safeway

Lifer
Jun 22, 2004
12,075
11
81
Originally posted by: shortylickens
Thats almost helpful.
Is the known universe 34,034,383,585 light years across?
Click to expand...

They are using a crappy thickness of paper. I originally used 0.01" thick, changed it to 0.005" thick. A ream of 500 pages is about 2.5" thick.
 
Fritzo

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
Originally posted by: Safeway
Originally posted by: shortylickens
Thats almost helpful.
Is the known universe 34,034,383,585 light years across?
Click to expand...

They are using a crappy thickness of paper. I originally used 0.01" thick, changed it to 0.005" thick. A ream of 500 pages is about 2.5" thick.
Click to expand...

The article said "radius" of the universe, which would be the distance from it's center to the edge. It also did not say how thick of a piece of paper it was using.
 
Fritzo

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
Somebody's wrong, I found the magazine's calculations and they don't match Safeway's:

n 2**n km (0.1*10**-6 * 2**n)
0 1 0.1 x 10**-6
1 2 0.2 x 10**-6
2 4 0.4 x 10**-6
3 8 0.8 x 10**-6 finger nail thickness
4 16 1.6 x 10**-6
5 32 3.2 x 10**-6
6 64 6.4 x 10**-6
7 128 12.8 x 10**-6 thickness of a notebook
8 256 25.6 x 10**-6
9 512 51.2 x 10**-6
10 1024 0.1 x 10**-3 width of a hand (incl. thumb)
11 2048 0.2 x 10**-3
12 4096 0.4 x 10**-3 0.4m height of a stool
13 8192 0.8 x 10**-3
14 16384 1.6 x 10**-3 1.6m: an average person's height (yeah, a short guy)
15 32768 3.3 x 10**-3
16 65536 6.6 x 10**-3
17 131072 13.1 x 10**-3 13m height of a two story house
18 262144 26.2 x 10**-3
19 524288 52.4 x 10**-3
20 1048576 104.9 x 10**-3 quarter of the Sears tower (440m)
... .... .... ....
25 33554432 3.4 x 10**0 past the Matterhorn
30 1073741824 107.4 x 10**0 outer limits of the atmosphere
35 34359738368 3.4 x 10**3
40 1099511627776 109.9 x 10**3
45 35184372088832 3.5 x 10**6
50 1125899906842624 112.5 x 10**6 ~ distance to the sun (95 million miles)
55 36028797018963968 3.6 x 10**9
60 1152921504606846976 115.3 x 10**9 size of the solar system?
65 36893488147419103232 3.7 x 10**12 one-third of a light year
70 1180591620717411303424 118.1 x 10**12 11 light years
75 37778931862957161709568 3.8 x 10**15 377 light years
80 1208925819614629174706176 120.9 x 10**15 12,000 light years
85 38685626227668133590597632 3.9 x 10**18 4x the diameter of our galaxy
90 1237940039285380274899124224 123.8 x 10**18 12 million light years
95 39614081257132168796771975168 4.0 x 10**21
100 1267650600228229401496703205376 126.8 x 10**21 (12 billion light years) approx. radius of the known universe?
 
Safeway

Safeway

Lifer
Jun 22, 2004
12,075
11
81
Originally posted by: Fritzo
Somebody's wrong, I found the magazine's calculations and they don't match Safeway's:
Click to expand...

Not really. 17 billion versus 12 billion. Depends on what the thickness of the paper is.

I assumed the initial thickness was 0.005".

500 sheets = 2.5"
1 sheet = 0.005"
 
Fritzo

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
Originally posted by: bGIveNs33
Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
I don't get it. When you fold paper, it gets smaller. Huh?
Click to expand...

:confused:
Click to expand...

Someone explain to noob pls, I have no idea how this works.
Click to expand...

When you fold a piece of paper, it's width decreases and it's height increases.
 
Safeway

Safeway

Lifer
Jun 22, 2004
12,075
11
81
Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
Originally posted by: bGIveNs33
Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
I don't get it. When you fold paper, it gets smaller. Huh?
Click to expand...

:confused:
Click to expand...

Someone explain to noob pls, I have no idea how this works.
Click to expand...

10" x 10" piece of paper. 0.005" thick.

Fold in half.

10" x 5" piece of paper, 2 thicknesses. 0.01" thick.

Fold in half.

5" x 5" piece of paper, 4 thicknesses. 0.02" thick.

Fold in half.

2.5" x 5" piece of paper, 8 thicknesses. 0.04" thick.

Fold in half.

2.5" x 2.5" piece of paper, 16 thicknesses. 0.08" thick.

Fold in half.

1.25" x 2.5" piece of paper, 32 thicknesses. 0.16" thick.

Fold in half.

1.25" x 1.25" piece of paper, 64 thicknesses. 0.32" thick.

Fold in half.

0.625" x 1.25" piece of paper, 128 thicknesses. 0.64" thick.

Can't fold in half again because (2)(0.64") > 1.25"
 
clamum

clamum

Lifer
Feb 13, 2003
26,252
403
126
Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
Originally posted by: bGIveNs33
Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
I don't get it. When you fold paper, it gets smaller. Huh?
Click to expand...

:confused:
Click to expand...

Someone explain to noob pls, I have no idea how this works.
Click to expand...
If you have a piece of paper, say .005" thick, and fold it in half, then it's like having two piece of paper laying on each other, right? So after one fold it's .010" thick. Keep folding and it gets thicker/higher.
 
destrekor

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
Originally posted by: Fritzo
Somebody's wrong, I found the magazine's calculations and they don't match Safeway's:

n 2**n km (0.1*10**-6 * 2**n)
0 1 0.1 x 10**-6
1 2 0.2 x 10**-6
2 4 0.4 x 10**-6
3 8 0.8 x 10**-6 finger nail thickness
4 16 1.6 x 10**-6
5 32 3.2 x 10**-6
6 64 6.4 x 10**-6
7 128 12.8 x 10**-6 thickness of a notebook
8 256 25.6 x 10**-6
9 512 51.2 x 10**-6
10 1024 0.1 x 10**-3 width of a hand (incl. thumb)
11 2048 0.2 x 10**-3
12 4096 0.4 x 10**-3 0.4m height of a stool
13 8192 0.8 x 10**-3
14 16384 1.6 x 10**-3 1.6m: an average person's height (yeah, a short guy)
15 32768 3.3 x 10**-3
16 65536 6.6 x 10**-3
17 131072 13.1 x 10**-3 13m height of a two story house
18 262144 26.2 x 10**-3
19 524288 52.4 x 10**-3
20 1048576 104.9 x 10**-3 quarter of the Sears tower (440m)
... .... .... ....
25 33554432 3.4 x 10**0 past the Matterhorn
30 1073741824 107.4 x 10**0 outer limits of the atmosphere
35 34359738368 3.4 x 10**3
40 1099511627776 109.9 x 10**3
45 35184372088832 3.5 x 10**6
50 1125899906842624 112.5 x 10**6 ~ distance to the sun (95 million miles)
55 36028797018963968 3.6 x 10**9
60 1152921504606846976 115.3 x 10**9 size of the solar system?
65 36893488147419103232 3.7 x 10**12 one-third of a light year
70 1180591620717411303424 118.1 x 10**12 11 light years
75 37778931862957161709568 3.8 x 10**15 377 light years
80 1208925819614629174706176 120.9 x 10**15 12,000 light years
85 38685626227668133590597632 3.9 x 10**18 4x the diameter of our galaxy
90 1237940039285380274899124224 123.8 x 10**18 12 million light years
95 39614081257132168796771975168 4.0 x 10**21
100 1267650600228229401496703205376 126.8 x 10**21 (12 billion light years) approx. radius of the known universe?
Click to expand...

correct. Approx.
Current estimates place the Universe at about 14 billion years old, meaning we can currently only see light that is approx 14 billion years old, meaning it has travelled 14 billion years to reach us, so the universe has to be approx that large (I believe this would be stated as radius, and not diameter, but I dunno). And btw, this was extremely shortened from any description that make more sense. Laying out the reasons why this is all the case requires a lot more description. I'm not prepared for that. Would take forever to write.

+
 
Safeway

Safeway

Lifer
Jun 22, 2004
12,075
11
81
Eh, not sure if I agree that it is correct. Current estimates are anywhere from 16 billion to 160 billion years old.

Part of the scientific community believes that matter was initially moving at faster-than-light speeds. The light we are seeing is actually old light that is catching up. Kinda.
 
Fritzo

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
Originally posted by: Safeway
Eh, not sure if I agree that it is correct. Current estimates are anywhere from 16 billion to 160 billion years old.

Part of the scientific community believes that matter was initially moving at faster-than-light speeds. The light we are seeing is actually old light that is catching up. Kinda.
Click to expand...

:confused:

I've not heard of an estimate over 14 billion years. Do you have any links to these estimates? I'd like to hear their theories.
 
J

JJChicken

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2007
6,165
16
81
Umm the flaw here is that you guys are assuming thats there infinite amount of paper to fold. there is only so many atoms in a piece of paper and even if u line them all up they will be nowhere near the estimates you guys are calculating. FTL.
 
R

RESmonkey

Diamond Member
May 6, 2007
4,818
2
0
I couldn't fold past 6 times. Using regular printer paper here. :(

Couldn't we just cut the paper at the bends and stack? I'll be we can get a long enough stack going. Who wants to do it? World's tallest stack of a single 8.5"x11" paper.

 
R

RESmonkey

Diamond Member
May 6, 2007
4,818
2
0
Originally posted by: Barack Obama
Umm the flaw here is that you guys are assuming thats there infinite amount of paper to fold. there is only so many atoms in a piece of paper and even if u line them all up they will be nowhere near the estimates you guys are calculating. FTL.
Click to expand...

Really? There are a LOT of atoms you know...

at least nuff to reach the sun.
 
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