Paper folding

Paper folding is the art of folding paper; it is known in many societies that use paper. In much of the West, the term origami is used synonymously with paper folding, though the term properly only refers to the art of paper folding in Japan.

Forms of paper folding:

• Zhezhi, Chinese paper folding
• Origami, from Japan
• Western paper folding, such as the traditional paper boats and paper planes.

The claim of the seven fold limit

A popular belief holds that it is impossible to fold a sheet of paper in half more than 7 times, folding in any direction, as the challenge had existed for many years and had never been solved. This belief was debunked by then high school student Britney Gallivan who successfully folded a piece of paper 12 times.^[1] More importantly she developed the mathematical and physical explanations for the actual folding limits of incompressible materials when folding in one or two directions. After the mathematics were developed she demonstrated folding in half 12 times both by folding paper in a single direction and by folding gold foil while rotating the folding 90 degrees after each fold.

The television series MythBusters "busted the myth" of the 7 fold limit by folding taped-together sheets in half and turning 90 degrees each time, for a total of 11 folds. The first eight folds were completed by hand, while the rest were completed using both steam rollers and fork lifts.^[2] This was accomplished by using not a single piece of paper but 17 large rolls of paper taped together to form a very large yet relatively thin "sheet."

Folding a piece of paper in half 100 times, if it were possible, would produce a stack of paper approximately 8×10²² miles in height.

See also

• Mathematics of paper folding
• Origami
• Book folding
• Washi

Notes

1. ^ "Folding Paper in Half 12 Times". http://pomonahistorical.org/12times.htm. 
2. ^ NASA - This Week at NASA, Week Ending Nov. 17, 2006

This art-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e