If you put a sheet of paper 103 times, you will get a stack size that is greater than our universe. But how?

in since •  8 years ago 

The answer is simple: The exponential growth.


The thickness of the middle of the sheet of paper is 1/10 of a millimeter.

If you fold it in half, doubling its thickness.

The third folding will give you a human nail thickness.

Seven folding - and you get a thick notebook of 128 pages.

10 - and the thickness of the paper will be about the width of the palm.

23rd you will receive a paper stack height of a kilometer.

30 folding will take you into space. At this time your piece will have a height of 100 kilometers.

Continue to fold. 42 fold will bring you to the moon. 51 - and you will find yourself in the sun.

Now quickly scroll to the 81-th folding and get a stack of paper as thick as 127,786 light-years - is almost equal to the diameter of the Andromeda Galaxy (which is about 141,000 light-years).

90 folding will give 130.8 million light-years - is more than a supercluster of the Virgin, which has a diameter of about 110 million years. Virgo supercluster contains the local galactic group, which consists of the Andromeda Galaxy, our own Milky Way, and about a hundred other galaxies.

Finally, at 103 folding you go beyond the observable universe, the diameter of which according to rough estimates of 93 billion light-years

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I think the paper you are using is of infinite length and breath

You're right. Use your imagination. Besides, you can not fold a piece of paper more than 7 times.
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