You have a square piece of paper and you do not know its length or width.

What is the minimum number of folds required in order for the paper to only show 1/16 of its original size, 2/16 of it's original size, 3/16 of its original size........15/16 of its original size.

Note: You do not know where halfway marks or quarter marks lie on this piece of paper therefore you must use folds to mark these areas. You are allowed to use folds as guides to make other folds.

So 1/16 is pretty easy. Fold it in half to get 1/2, then fold that in half to get 1/4, then 1/8 and then 1/16. (4 folds)

2/16 is also straightforward: go back one step to 1/8. (3 folds)

Similarly, 4/16 is 1/4 (2 folds) and 8/16 is 1/2 (1 fold)

Posted by levik on 2003-02-12 03:38:59