Comment by arijun
14 hours ago
> The underlying reason is that paper does not stretch
I don't think that's sufficient--tinfoil doesn't stretch, but it doesn't fold nearly as neatly as paper.
14 hours ago
> The underlying reason is that paper does not stretch
I don't think that's sufficient--tinfoil doesn't stretch, but it doesn't fold nearly as neatly as paper.
"Paper folds in a straight line" and I was like "duh! what else?" Until I read this comment, and it bought back all the memories where I tried to fold other things like plastic sheets and tin foils and how they never ended in straight line...damn. I never noticed...
You are perhaps commenting about the force needed to fold, the persistence of the folded shape. My comment is about the shape of the crease once it has been folded.
Most metals are stretchier than paper. If it is thick it will resist folding, but once you have folded it, that is, the two flat boundary surfaces have coincided, the crease would be a straight line if the surfaces cannot stretch.
How much force you will need to exert to form a fold depends on material properties but the geometrical nature of the crease is dictated by stretching.