How I Remember My Atomic Bonds

Chemistry class chaos in one perfect meme! The teacher's face says it all while supervising a lab full of disasters. One student casually licking hydrochloric acid (seriously dangerous), another snorting mystery powder (terrible idea), someone mixing sodium and water (explosive reaction), and the poor kid who didn't wear gloves with salt water (which seems innocent until you realize salt water conducts electricity and can cause chemical burns with certain compounds). Meanwhile, the teacher is experiencing all five stages of grief simultaneously. This is why chemistry teachers have that thousand-yard stare by retirement.

Niels Bohr questioning his own model is peak scientific self-doubt. The electrons don't fall into the nucleus because they're in quantized energy states, not because they're making intelligent life choices. Quantum mechanics doesn't care about your logical expectations. Those electrons are just following the rules of physics while we're over here anthropomorphizing subatomic particles like they have a choice. Typical human behavior, expecting tiny negatively charged particles to understand gravity.

This is what happens when chemists get bored with IUPAC's systematic naming conventions and decide to flex their creativity. The meme shows the evolution of a chemist's brain as they use increasingly cooler nicknames for the exact same molecule (C₅H₁₂). Starting with the formal "2,2-Dimethylpropane" (boring, no brain activity), then progressing to "Neopentane" (brain lighting up), then the shorthand "Tetramethylmethane (CMe₄)" (brain getting hotter), followed by "tert-butylmethane (t-BuMe)" (brain reaching enlightenment), and finally the rebel "1,1,1-Trimethylethane" (cosmic brain explosion). It's like watching someone transform from "formal email to professor" to "3 AM text to lab partner." The molecule hasn't changed at all—just the chemist's willingness to thumb their nose at IUPAC conventions. Who needs systematic naming when you can sound cool instead?

Let's be honest—modern atomic orbital diagrams look like balloon animals made by a drunk clown at a kids' party. Meanwhile, the plum pudding model? Delicious simplicity! Just a positive pudding with negative plums. No need for quantum headaches or remembering which shape is d xy versus d z² . Sure, it's completely wrong scientifically, but at least we could visualize atoms while enjoying dessert. Thomson probably came up with it during tea time, which is far more civilized than Schrödinger doing math while having existential crises about cats. Sometimes scientific accuracy is overrated when the alternative sounds like something you could order at a British bakery.

When your chemistry professor tries to explain London dispersion forces but you're too busy thinking about your vacation plans. Big Ben over here radiating temporary dipoles in all directions like it's trying to attract every non-polar molecule in the Thames. For the uninitiated: these weak attractions happen when electrons in neighboring molecules momentarily cluster on one side, creating temporary positive and negative poles that pull on each other. Kind of like how tourists are temporarily attracted to Big Ben before dispersing to overpriced gift shops. The student's confession of "idk I didn't study" is the most honest thing I've seen since a colleague claimed their research would be "groundbreaking."

Behold! The forbidden laboratory footwear! These flip-flops are the true meaning of "NSFW" in science - Not Safe For Workbench! Every lab safety officer just felt a disturbance in the force. Exposed toes in a lab environment? That's like inviting hydrochloric acid to a toe party! Remember kids, proper PPE prevents painful piggies. The only thing these should be flipping is burgers at a beach barbecue, not chemicals in a fume hood!