Log2 ( (distance to moon) / (thickness of paper) )

norvig · on April 4, 2011

Oh come on ... the right question is http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=ceil%28log2+%28+%28dist... , to which the answer is of course: 42

erikstarck · on April 4, 2011

...in other words: fold a paper 42 times and you reach the moon.

jameskilton · on April 4, 2011

And only 8 more folds to reach the sun!

Ain't exponentiality awesome?

olalonde · on April 4, 2011

And only 41.46 more folds to reach the size of the observable universe! :)

theboos · on April 4, 2011

... requiring about 4 trillion sheets:

... or 2.586 trillion square feet of paper:

rajasharan · on April 4, 2011

but you can't fold a paper more than 8 times

wglb · on April 4, 2011

magicseth · on April 4, 2011

This makes me wish wolfram alpha were social. I'd love to be able to have a conversation about interesting formula and results.

iKristinW · on April 4, 2011

That's a great idea. You can share interesting results with @WolframFunFacts.

mvanveen · on April 4, 2011

faitswulff · on April 8, 2011

What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything...?