Can You Fold A Piece of Paper More Than 7 Times? | MythBusters

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:04]All right, this myth has been around forever. Okay, what is it?

[00:00:08]You can't fold a piece of paper in half more than seven times. I don't believe it.

[00:00:13]Let's do it. That's why I brought a piece of paper. All right, let's see.

[00:00:16]Show us.

[00:00:18]All right, that's one.

[00:00:19]>> [music] >> This myth is a MythBusters fan site special request. It's a theory that most people first hear in elementary school and Kari is finding out it isn't child's play.

[00:00:33]Don't break the table.

[00:00:34]There's seven.

[00:00:36]Come on, Kari, one more. One more, you can do it.

[00:00:39]>> Giving up yet?

[00:00:42]Yeah.

[00:00:44]That Eight does I don't think eight worked. I think that's seven. You know what, there's got to be a way to fold this [music] piece of paper more than seven times. Okay, well, let's break this down and figure out what it takes to fold it eight times or more. I'm getting a feeling you're going to get math involved again.

[00:01:02]Correct, Kari. It's called exponential growth. Every time you fold a piece of paper in half, it gets twice as small and twice as thick. A piece of paper folded just seven times quickly multiplies to 128 layers. Eight folds doubles again to 256 layers [music] and the theory is this is too thick to bend. Folding paper is so exciting.

[00:01:27]To add even [music] more excitement, the team is going to try to bust this myth by making it a friendly competition.

[00:01:34]Okay, so the challenge is each of us has two hours to take these pieces of paper and see how many times we can fold them.

[00:01:41]Person that folds them the most wins.

[00:01:44]Using [music] standard letter 8 and 1/2 by 11 office paper, our first contender, Tory Belleci, steps up. First, you must massage the paper.

[00:01:54]You get it relaxed so that it'll fold easier.

[00:02:01]It's one.

[00:02:03]Tory's basic method of folding and rotating is smooth all the way until he gets [music] to number seven. This tricky one here.

[00:02:15]To bend the paper [music] to his will, he needs reinforcements.

[00:02:18]>> Where's the mallet?

[00:02:20]Just a gentle nudge is all it needs.

[00:02:25]Number eight.

[00:02:27]Is he about to wrench this myth open already?

[00:02:31]The pressure is on to bring it home to eight.

[00:02:36]Eight.

[00:02:39]Got it.

[00:02:40]Or did he? His fellow competitors are not convinced [music] his brute strength technique really worked.

[00:02:46]>> I think you managed to wad it in half eight times, but Look. Look. That's not half.

[00:02:52]>> There's one.

[00:02:53]That's That's not a fold. That's a and you cut the paper. You cut the paper.

[00:02:57]Cut the paper. I'm sorry, dude. Nope.

[00:03:00]Grant's thinking along different lines.

[00:03:04]I'm going to try folding along the diagonal and see if that gives me an advantage.

[00:03:10]But Grant can't even crack the seven-fold mark. Ah, okay. All intellect thrown out the door, it becomes a Tyson-esque battle between a man and a piece of paper. Okay, there's almost seven.

[00:03:26]Obviously, the diagonal's not going to work.

[00:03:31]Kari's tactic is to focus on the fold.

[00:03:34]My way of tackling this seven paper fold problem is to hopefully use a little bit of compression, a little bit of steam and a little bit of sanding to make that last fold, which seems to be the problem, a little bit easier.

[00:03:50]A homespun touch might be just what this myth [music] needs.

[00:03:54]After ironing a perfect crease, she rubs it with fine sandpaper.

[00:04:00]She's going to be a tiny bit thinner.

[00:04:01][music] I'm just thinking maybe just that like microscopic little edge it could give me.

[00:04:06]Her idea may just iron out the kinks in this competition.

[00:04:10]>> [music] >> Hey, when you're done with this, I was wondering if you can come over and iron my newspaper.

[00:04:15]But she, too, runs out of steam at seven.

[00:04:19]Seven times. That's [music] it. This ends up a spit wad. Meanwhile, Grant has really been pondering this paper puzzle.

[00:04:29]Okay, so I think that this is actually a [music] dimensional problem. And here, this is a piece of 20 lb 8 and 1/2 by 11 like office paper.

[00:04:39]And it is 3,000ths of an inch.

[00:04:43]So, if I make that thinner, theoretically, I should be able to get more folds in the same amount of space.

[00:04:51]And that's why I have this.

[00:04:52]This is tracing paper.

[00:04:54]Technically still paper.

[00:04:56]Isn't it a little early in the game to start cheating?

[00:04:59]>> Still paper.

[00:05:01]A cheat? Quite the contrary. Grant sees himself as a purist. No hammer.

[00:05:08]No clamp.

[00:05:10]No sanding.

[00:05:13]Plus, he has [music] a cunning plan to fold lengthwise repeatedly, then widthwise repeatedly. Now for the folding in half.

[00:05:24]If you fold a piece of paper in alternating directions, it doesn't constrain itself with each fold.

[00:05:30]So, it's easier to keep folding.

[00:05:33]There's number eight.

[00:05:36]Eight.

[00:05:37]>> [music] >> But someone still doesn't want to concede defeat. 22.

[00:05:46]23.

[00:05:47]>> [music] >> Grant, Tory, and Kari are trying to burn a hole in the seven paper fold myth.

[00:05:58]You got something you want to say, Grant? As a matter of fact, I do. I think it's clear that I won the competition with eight folds. And not only did I win, I busted the myth. You know what, though?

[00:06:10]You got eight folds, but you changed the method of the folding. The obvious way would be to fold it in half, turn it 90° and fold it again. Every time we try to do that, we couldn't get more than seven folds. I mean, there might be some truth to this myth. Well, if we use a really big piece of paper, I think there's a possibility that we could get more than seven folds. Okay.

[00:06:30]Then let's get the biggest piece of seamless paper we can find and try it again.

[00:06:35]All right, then. They roll out the biggest seamless piece of paper they could find, 12 and 1/2 by 15 [music] ft. In theory, increasing the paper's dimensions should make it easier to reach the elusive eight-fold goal.

[00:06:50]You want to have big biceps. Look at this.

[00:06:53]Do this exercise. [music] For the first couple of folds, the paper is a pushover, but it's shrinking with surprising speed.

[00:07:06]It gets real small, real fast.

[00:07:08]>> does. This is six.

[00:07:13]It's starting to get feisty.

[00:07:15]I don't know about you guys, but it's not looking good for the MythBusters.

[00:07:18]They reach the [music] seventh fold.

[00:07:20]Now, to go for the number eight and break the myth.

[00:07:25]All right, you're making a mess of my [music] paper.

[00:07:27]This is seven. We're supposed to get one more fold.

[00:07:32]Go heavy. Good luck.

[00:07:36]But no matter what sick methods of intimidation [music] they try, the paper doesn't break. I like to use the mallet, don't you?

[00:07:44]Ladies and gentlemen, the pulp is victorious. I'd say this is not looking like an honest eight. It's looking like an honest seven.

[00:07:52]But unless it just stays in that folded position, I think this eight might be a little sketchy.

[00:07:57]You're stretching it.

[00:07:59]The team is all torn up. Even using a piece of paper the size of a room, 288 times larger than the letter size paper, they couldn't crack the seven-fold ceiling. So, now what?

[00:08:13]This is six times thicker than the tracing paper.

[00:08:16]If we can learn anything from this little exercise, it would be we need to go thinner and we need to go bigger.

[00:08:21]Bigger? You got it, Kari.

[00:08:24]No one knows space like NASA [music] and they have plenty of it at an empty airship hangar they've given us clearance to use at Moffett Field. At more than 200 ft high, 1,000 ft long, and 300 [music] ft wide, our crew will really be able to explore the outer reaches of [music] this myth. Their mission, to fold a piece of paper that's almost the size of a football [music] field, the biggest attempt of its kind in the world.

[00:08:52]It's huge.

[00:08:55]I don't know if this is going to be big enough. Oh, yeah.

[00:08:58]Because there's not [music] a piece of seamless paper on the planet big enough, the plan is to get 17 individual rolls [music] and lay them out side by side.

[00:09:08]Covering 170 by 220 ft, the team will join them together with double-sided [music] tape. Then they'll use whatever methods necessary to try and fold it into a submission. Basically, you're going to have to fill this whole area.

[00:09:22]Yeah, well, we have um 170 ft this way and 220 this way before we get to any equipment. So, will that work out for us? Yeah, it's perfect to scale up an 8 and 1/2 by 11 sheet.

[00:09:34]Dude, this is going to be a long day. We have a lot of work. Then let's roll.

[00:09:38]Turn around. All the way back, right to this corner right here.

[00:09:43]The paper they're using is special order. This is the thickness of regular office paper, [music] about 3,000ths.

[00:09:50]What we tried to do in the shop where we couldn't get seven folds was twice as thick as [music] this. And when you're talking about trying to achieve this myth, thickness of the paper is really important. Going larger and thinner might just give them the edge they need to beat this myth.

[00:10:05]They position the first roll, give it a push, and they're off. This is going to be the biggest piece of [music] paper ever.

[00:10:14]One down.

[00:10:16]>> [laughter] >> 16 more to go.

[00:10:19]Their first 220 ft of [music] scroll has been successfully unrolled.

[00:10:25]To secure roll number two, they need double-sided tape.

[00:10:30]>> [music] >> Inch by inch, they press the sticky stuff along the edge of the paper.

[00:10:35]Keep it Keep it in line. Now, this, folks, is an example of highly focused, synchronized taping teamwork in action.

[00:10:45]Time to truck in roll number two. Coming down.

[00:10:49]Roll down, tape down. I think we get the concept. I hear this is good for your back.

[00:10:59]The art of paper folding is an intricate and time-consuming pursuit that is also often very rewarding.

[00:11:08]>> [music] >> As they set up for the biggest paper folding attempt in history, our team is having difficulty appreciating this.

[00:11:15]Maybe I just lie here and it'll get itself done. The problem that we have right now is I don't think any of us is realizing exactly the kind of scale we're talking about for this experiment.

[00:11:26]Essentially, this is a sheet of paper the size of a football field, and just maneuvering that, even seaming it together so it's one piece of paper, is going to be a major, major challenge.

[00:11:38]Better put them in lockdown so [music] they can't escape.

[00:11:44]So, it sounded so much easier on paper.

[00:11:53]>> [music] >> Back over at paper fold HQ, the pigeons living in the rafters have left some pointed messages [music] on the team's blank sheets. It's everywhere.

[00:12:02]>> Nasty. They better tread very carefully.

[00:12:05]The art of paper folding, known as origami, is believed [music] to have originated as long ago as the first century AD in China. Masters of the craft believe it is a pursuit in which you can unlock the secrets of creation.

[00:12:19]>> It looks like a big giant diaper.

[00:12:22]That might be a stretch for our novices here today, but finally, they reach the [music] last joint.

[00:12:29]All hands on deck. Disperse yourself at even intervals.

[00:12:32]>> Yeah.

[00:12:33]We got to space out.

[00:12:37]Yeah! [screaming] And so, the paper becomes one.

[00:12:42]That went so much better than I had thought.

[00:12:44]>> OF CAKE.

[00:12:45]>> [laughter] >> I THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE HARD.

[00:12:48]Looking down from a bird's-eye view, it's an [music] impressive sea of white.

[00:12:52]No wonder those pigeons couldn't resist.

[00:12:55]Ooh, look at this ocean of paper.

[00:12:57][music] I think this is going to be probably the biggest attempt to fold a piece of paper more than seven times. Actually, in 2002, there's this high school student named Britney Gallivan, and for an extra credit project, she did the seven paper fold and got more than seven folds.

[00:13:17]What? How? She used toilet paper and folded it lengthwise. But the toilet paper was 4,000 ft long. How many folds did she get? She got 12 folds. She had to use a shopping mall, and it took over 7 hours to fold.

[00:13:31]Wow.

[00:13:32]That's impressive. She may have beaten the seven paper fold, but she did it lengthwise. I still think the spirit of the myth is folding it in half, turning it 90, and folding it again. That's true, and within the parameters of the spirit of the myth, that record is still up for grabs. I say we do it. We just got to be careful we don't get any paper cuts. With the paper build finished, they can finally begin folding.

[00:13:55]It's socks only as the whole MythBusters crew grabs an edge.

[00:14:00]Everyone ready?

[00:14:01]Ready. All right, here we go. Slowly.

[00:14:04]>> Slowly.

[00:14:06]Slowly, they pull back the paper, being very careful where they step.

[00:14:10]But [music] the pigeon droppings aren't their only worry. My new worry is that this paper's going to rip when we start trying to fold it. I mean, it's really thin.

[00:14:20]And the size of these pieces of paper is so heavy.

[00:14:24]I just see ripping for days.

[00:14:28]Is there an ill wind blowing?

[00:14:30]It's already a really, really difficult task. The paper has got the littlest breeze, and it starts to fly. One rip, and their best-laid plans will be shredded. Uh-oh. Uh-oh, we got a situation.

[00:14:46]Back over at NASA, our team is finding out that folding a football-sized [music] piece of paper isn't exactly a breeze.

[00:14:55]For instance, the fact that it turns into a giant windsock with the littlest bit of a breeze. There's air trapped underneath it.

[00:15:03]But they manage to rein in the billowing parachute without any tears for an official fold one.

[00:15:11]Let it fall.

[00:15:13]Pull the slack. Oh, that was beautiful.

[00:15:19]They reposition for the next crease.

[00:15:22]We're going to fold that direction.

[00:15:25]It's like [music] trying to fold the world's biggest bedsheet. It's starting to get It's crumpling in weird ways.

[00:15:31]It's not folding smoothly. But the team manages to smooth out the wrinkles and make folds two, three, Hey, notice we're all getting a little closer? four, five, Everybody to this side for six.

[00:15:48]and six. Neat [music] and tidy tuckings.

[00:15:53]It's actually like an airbag.

[00:15:56]However, with each pass, the additional layers make it harder to heave over, and at fold seven, everyone and everything is starting to puff.

[00:16:06]>> of air. Uh, yeah, and it's not going down. There it is. Yeah, push your foot.

[00:16:11]Seven is squashed out.

[00:16:13]Now, the team is about [music] to go for eight. If they achieve this, they will bust the seven paper fold myth. See how everybody's very quiet?

[00:16:22]Cuz we're all anticipating busting this myth. We folded it seven times. We're about to go for number eight.

[00:16:30]Looking good.

[00:16:32]I think we're going to do it.

[00:16:34]The paper tries [music] to dig in its heels, but is losing its grip.

[00:16:38]>> Come on.

[00:16:41]And we did it! Yes!

[00:16:44]Eight! That is eight. Eight! It sure feels satisfying to beat a paper myth to a pulp.

[00:16:51]If you draw a line all the way down, you'll be able to intersect every layer, and that is a true eight folds, and that busts this myth.

[00:17:01]There's no stopping our out-of-control paper pushers now. If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. Kari trucks in a giant rolling pin to flatten this piece of puff pastry some more.

[00:17:16]Flat as a pancake.

[00:17:18]As smooth as rolled dough, it folds back easy as pie. Yeah, nine. Nine!

[00:17:25]To achieve double digits, [music] the paper is too heavy for the team to lift themselves, so they stick a fork in it.

[00:17:32]Drive in. Drive in.

[00:17:36]Woah, that is a definite 10.

[00:17:40]Topping 10 is going to be tough.

[00:17:44]Thanks to their buddy [music] exponential growth, the paper is now 1,024 layers thick. It takes [music] every ounce of strength they have to bend it.

[00:17:54]Got it. That feels like an honest 11 to me. NICE!

[00:17:59]YEAH!

[00:18:01]11!

[00:18:03]NOT ONLY DID [music] they bust seven folds, they turned it up all the way to 11.

[00:18:09]We definitely put this one to bed.

[00:18:10]Absolutely. Well, as far as as our definition for the myth goes as the fold, we've got it long, we've got it flat. If we do any bit more, it's just going to be a semicircle. We got 11 folds out of a football-sized piece of paper. We busted a myth, and we're going to go home before the sun completely goes down.

[00:18:30]11 folds! I didn't think it was possible. Should we go to the NASA gift shop? Yeah.