If an A4 paper is folded in half 50 times, what will its thickness be?

Hello, in today’s Information Corner article ‘What will be the thickness if an A4 paper is folded in half 50 times?’ we are looking for an answer. Before reading the answer to our question, you can specify your guesses in the comments :).

First of all, let’s start to find an answer to question by examining the dimensions of A4 paper.
An A4 Paper;
Width: 21 cm
Height: 29.7 cm
Thickness: ~0.1 mm

When an A4 paper is folded in half 50 times, the change in size is of no concern to us, so we will use the thickness

Calculations

Let’s come to the thickness calculation, which is the answer to our question. We mentioned above that the thickness of an A4 paper is approximately 0.1 mm. When we fold the A4 paper in half a few times;
1. Folding = (0.1) x 2 = 0.1 x 2¹ mm
2. Folding = (0.1) x 4 = 0.1 x 2² mm
3. Folding = (0.1) x 8 = 0.1 x 2³ mm
4. Folding = (0.1) x 16 = 0.1 x 2⁴ mm
5. Folding = (0.1) x 32 = 0.1 x 2⁵ mm
….
As you can see, it proceeds as a product of 2 over each fold.
50. Folding = (0.1) x (1.125899907×10¹⁵) = (0.1) x 2⁵⁰ = 1.125899907×10¹⁴ mm is happening.
Now let’s convert this value to cm, m and km respectively;
1.125899907×10¹⁴ mm = 1.125899907×10¹³ cm = 1.125899907×10¹¹ m = 125,589,990.7 km yani okunuşuyla 125 milyon 589 bin 990 km is happening.

Interpreting the Result

According to the calculations above, when an A4 paper is folded in half 50 times, it reaches a size of 125 million km. Let’s compare this incredible result with planetary distances.
Distance between Earth and Mercury = 91,691,000 km
Distance between Earth and Sun = 149,597,870.7 km

So, considering these results, if you fold an A4 paper in half 50 times, it would stretch from the Earth to between the Sun and Mercury . I know this result is a bit difficult to perceive. So why can’t our brain perceive or predict this result? The reason for this is that our brain calculates linearly. I was very surprised at the results at first, but I was convinced when I calculated it myself with the calculator, you can try it your calculator :).

See you in another Information Corner…