Cations Memes

Okay, this is chemistry wordplay at its finest! The meme shows a cat (cat-ions) and its paw (paw-sitive) to spell out "ions are positive." In chemistry, cations are positively charged ions that lost electrons during bonding. Meanwhile, anions (the ones that gained electrons) are negative. Chemistry teachers everywhere are secretly saving this to their phone right now to torture their students with dad-level science puns tomorrow. The perfect visual reminder that sometimes the best way to remember chemistry concepts is through terrible, wonderful puns!

The perfect visual representation of ion formation in chemistry. Take an onion, remove the "i" (just like removing an electron), and you're left with a positively charged "on." This is basically what my intro chem students think happens when we discuss cations. Next week I'll bring a bag of onions to class and dramatically cross out letters on the whiteboard. Still more effective than most textbook explanations.

The perfect chemistry mnemonic doesn't exi-- Behold, the feline periodic reminder system. Cat = cation (paw-sitive charge). The stoic expression of that orange tabby says "I've lost electrons and I'm not happy about it." Meanwhile, the paw represents anions, which gain electrons and become negative. Chemistry professors have been using this exact technique for decades, but only after three consecutive all-nighters in the lab does it become truly hilarious.