When Feynman Crashes Your Chemistry Class

Looking at the same molecule from different angles but can't tell which is which? Welcome to the stereochemistry nightmare! Just like Samuel-L-Jackson and Samuel-D-Jackson here, optical stereoisomers are mirror images of each other but not superimposable—identical in every way except their spatial arrangement. They'll react differently with other chiral molecules though, just like how one Samuel probably says "motherfucker" with slightly more emphasis. Chemistry professors expect you to distinguish these on exams while cackling maniacally in their office chairs. Pure evil.

Sørensen really said "I'm gonna create one of the most fundamental measurements in chemistry and then refuse to elaborate on what the 'p' stands for." Classic power move. Scientists in 1909 were like "So what does the 'p' mean?" and he just shrugged and walked away. Now we're all stuck debating whether it's "potential," "power," or just "please stop asking me questions." The man literally invented a unit that measures how acidic your kombucha is and then left everyone on read. Scientific ghosting at its finest.

Picture a chemist who just spent days growing the perfect crystal for X-ray diffraction, smugly dismissing every other characterization technique in existence. "Raman? IR? EMP? XPS? Please, I can see everything in my crystal structure!" This is the crystallography purist's fantasy world—where a single technique magically reveals all molecular secrets. Meanwhile, spectroscopists everywhere are collectively facepalming. It's like claiming you can understand an entire symphony just by looking at the sheet music without ever hearing the instruments play. The rage comic face perfectly captures the frustration of researchers who can't grow single crystals and have to use—gasp—multiple complementary techniques like normal scientists. The horror!

This meme is a darkly hilarious crossover between chemistry education and Breaking Bad ! When a chemistry teacher gets diagnosed with lung cancer, the internet immediately makes the Walter White connection. The comment "Let him cook" is the chef's kiss of this whole situation - it's the iconic phrase used when Walter starts manufacturing certain substances using his chemistry expertise. The perfect storm of tragic reality meets fictional anti-hero! Just remember, kids: the difference between your chem teacher and Heisenberg is just one bad day and some really expensive medical bills!

This flowchart is what happens when career counselors have a mental breakdown. Engineering? Only if you're "good with things." Chemistry? Congratulations on your future as a "fussy pedant." And let's not forget Computer Science, perfect for those who prefer "slow, indirect evil" over the more efficient varieties. The beautiful part is how it nails the existential crisis of every STEM student. "Why do you want to major in a STEM field?" Options include "curiosity" (adorable), "to save the planet" (delusional), or my personal favorite, the dawning realization that STEM was supposed to involve actual plants for Biology majors. After 30 years of teaching, I can confirm this is approximately 87% accurate. The missing 13% is the path where you choose your major based on which department has the least uncomfortable chairs in the lecture hall.

When faced with the choice between proper lab cleanup and taking the easy way out, undergrads will always choose chaos. Acetone? That's the magical solvent that cleans everything from glassware to your will to live after a 6-hour lab. But why spend 5 minutes properly cleaning when you can spend 3 hours dealing with the consequences later? Just like in Uno, we'd rather draw 25 cards than face our responsibilities. Pro tip: your PI can smell your acetone-free glassware from three buildings away. They have evolved this ability specifically to torment you.