On the maximum number of folds of a piece of paper

Abstract

We argue that a piece of paper, of thickness T and width W, can be folded a maximum number N = 0.962 ln(f  W/T) times, where f is a factor of order unity, determined by mechanical constraints. N typically takes a value of around six.

Acknowledgements

The author thanks C. T. J. Cowan, G. L. Fisher, W. D. Gadd and A. C. and M. J. Rees for useful discussions and M. Tomkins for unpublished measurements.