Existential Crisis: Physics Lab Edition

The meme features a physics exam question asking "In an atom, the number of electrons is equal to:" with three options. Someone selected "the number of electrons" (a tautology) instead of "the number of protons" (the correct answer). Below is Emperor Kuzco from "The Emperor's New Groove" saying "No, no. He's got a point." It's technically true in the most useless way possible! The number of electrons is equal to the number of electrons—just like saying water is wet. The teacher gave it 1 point because, well, you can't argue with that flawless circular logic. Chemistry teachers everywhere are simultaneously facepalming and reaching for their red pens.

When your professor asks which "moment" you're referring to in your physics paper and you realize there are approximately 8 billion different types. The struggle is real! Physics students drowning in a sea of moments—torque, inertia, momentum, magnetic, electric, seismic—while desperately trying to remember which one they actually need for their problem set. Meanwhile, their professor is just sitting there enjoying the existential crisis unfold. Classic physics department trauma.

The great Feynman strikes again! Everyone's got opinions on politics, climate change, and what your ex is doing wrong, but mention magnets and suddenly it's all "how do they work?" Energy conservation? Sure. Quantum chromodynamics? No problem. But ask someone to explain magnetic fields without using the word "force" and watch their brain short-circuit faster than an undergrad's laptop during finals week.

Everyone's a hardcore science enthusiast until they actually have to do the science. Nothing humbles the "I freaking love science" crowd faster than a physics exam that makes Einstein look like he was going easy on us. The tears streaming down this poor soul's face after scoring a magnificent 2/20 in physics (with a bonus 1.5/20 in math) is the academic equivalent of talking big about climbing Everest and then passing out at base camp. The scientific method doesn't care about your Instagram quotes or how many Neil deGrasse Tyson videos you've watched – it demands blood, sweat, tears, and apparently a much better understanding of kinematics than whatever this student brought to the table.

That face when your physics professor's soul leaves his body after reading your exam answer. A negative mass measured in velocity units and a speed faster than light? Einstein is doing barrel rolls in his grave. The fundamental laws of physics aren't just broken here—they've been utterly obliterated, cremated, and scattered into the quantum void. Just another Tuesday in Intro to Physics.

The meme refers to the legendary Brachistochrone problem, which Johann Bernoulli posed to the mathematical community in 1696 as a challenge. While most mathematicians requested 6 months to solve it, Newton reportedly received it one evening and solved it by the next morning! This perfectly captures Newton's ridiculous genius. The problem asked for the curve along which a body would fall from one point to another in the shortest time—a complex calculus of variations problem. Newton's solution? The cycloid curve. And he did it overnight while everyone else was still scratching their wigs. Classic Newton flex. Why take two months when you can just casually revolutionize mathematics before breakfast?