Short · Math

Why is paper so hard to fold more than seven times?

Name: Why is paper so hard to fold more than seven times?
Uploaded: 2026-10-11
Duration: PT36.44S
Description: Each fold doubles the thickness, and every bend has to wrap all those layers. That's why twelve folds need a strip nearly a kilometer long, and 42 would reach past the Moon.

Each fold doubles the thickness, and every bend has to wrap all those layers. That's why twelve folds need a strip nearly a kilometer long, and 42 would reach past the Moon.

Try it yourself

Opens Fold Lab. Change the same thing yourself.

Narrated · 36 seconds · captions includedDownload the film

Keep exploring

Up next

InteractiveFold LabChange the same thing yourself.Try it yourself
0:33Short · ProbabilityShould you switch doors?
0:44Film · Patterns and geometryWhy the Golden Angle Creates Sunflower Spirals

Transcript

Why is it so hard to fold paper more than seven times? Each fold doubles the thickness. Seven folds is a hundred twenty-eight layers. And every fold has to wrap all those layers around the bend, which eats up length. The thicker the stack, the more paper each fold costs. Now drag the sheet longer. Twelve folds need a strip nearly a kilometer long. And if you could keep going? Forty-two folds would reach past the Moon. Try it yourself at Explainer Tools dot com.