A4 Paper facts
While investigating facts about A4 Paper, I found out little known, but curios details like:
The standard-sized paper sheet in the western world (A4) is based on a factor of √2. The reason for this is so if you fold it lengthwise every time, it maintains the same length-to-width ratio, large or small.
Every country in the world uses ISO 216 (A4) sized paper for official use, except for the US and Canada, who use US letter sized paper
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 12 of the best facts about A4 Paper I managed to collect.
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The USA and Canada are the only countries to have not adopted the ISO 216 standard on paper sizes. They use the "Letter" paper size rather than the international equivalent A4.
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Most US citizens have not heard of A4 paper, and most local print/copy shops don't sell it, whereas the US standard 8.5"x11" ('Letter') is similarly hard to obtain outside the Amercas and Phillipines...
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If you could theoretically fold an A4 piece of paper 103 times, the thickness would be larger than the observable universe, but in terms of surface area would be smaller than an atom.
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The US is one of the only countries in the world that uses 8.5" x 11" paper. Almost every other country uses the A4 sized paper which is 8.27" x 11.69".
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When is A4 paper cut in half, the resulting sheets (A5) have the same proportions - ratio of height/width. That way printing can be scaled up or down for different size pages without changing the layout or appearance of the page. That ratio is roughly 1.41, and A0 has an area of 1m squared.
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How to open a beer bottle with a piece of a4 paper
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Envelopes have a C size scale the same way that paper has an A size scale (A4, A3)
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The "letter" size of paper is similar to, but different than A4, and made the official government size by Ronald Reagan.
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One slice of A4 paper takes an average of 5 liters of water to produce.
