Physicists Will Assume Anything

Schrödinger's original thought experiment: "The cat exists in a quantum superposition of states until observed." The cat's perspective: "Could you maybe NOT put me in a box with poison just to prove a quantum mechanics point?" Turns out quantum uncertainty collapses pretty quickly when the experimental subject can vocally object. Theoretical physicists hate this one weird trick!

The eternal academic food chain strikes again! Every freshman who confidently declares "I will major in maths" gets smacked with reality faster than you can say "eigenvalue." But that's just the beginning of the scientific hierarchy. Biology majors think they've escaped the numerical nightmare until they hit biochemistry. Chemistry students smugly avoid calculus until physical chemistry shows up with differential equations. And physics? Just advanced math wearing a lab coat. It's the Circle of Academic Life—where everyone eventually gets crushed by equations they swore they'd never need. Next time someone says math is just abstract nonsense, remind them it's literally holding together every scientific discipline like some sort of numerical glue!

Poor Lord Kelvin declared physics was basically finished in 1900, only to get absolutely steamrolled by the quantum and relativity revolution! The meme shows Kelvin as a lonely school bus while Einstein, Schrödinger, Bohr, and Planck come barreling down the tracks as unstoppable trains. Talk about a historical face-plant! Kelvin was measuring temperatures while these folks were casually rewriting the entire fabric of reality. Next time you're certain something is "complete," remember this epic scientific smackdown.

The hydrogen atom's shocked expression perfectly captures the bizarre reality of quantum tunneling. Hydrogen, being the smallest atom, can literally phase through platinum's crystal lattice structure like it's no big deal. While other elements politely wait outside, hydrogen just... walks through walls. Platinum catalysts exploit this quantum weirdness for all sorts of chemical reactions. It's basically the atomic version of discovering you have superpowers, except instead of celebrating, the hydrogen is just completely freaking out about violating classical physics.

Started physical chemistry with such optimism! "Just a phase diagram, how hard could it be?" Fast forward a few weeks and suddenly you're drowning in quantum mechanics, thermodynamic derivatives, and Hermitian operators that make your brain leak out your ears. The transition from Mr. Incredible's confident smile to his haunted, sleep-deprived nightmare face is basically the universal physical chemistry experience. The first month tricks you with simple equilibrium concepts before the professor unleashes mathematical hell. That moment when you realize your "easy science elective" actually requires more math than your math classes did!

The physics student lifecycle in two frames: unbridled enthusiasm followed by existential despair. First-year students gleefully eyeing every physics subfield like an all-you-can-eat buffet of knowledge—Quantum Field Theory, String Theory, Electrodynamics—only to find themselves four years later, lying on train tracks, begging for graduation. The transformation from "I want them ALL!" to "I want to graduate..." is the academic equivalent of discovering that what looked like a fun rollercoaster is actually a centrifuge designed by Satan himself. Graduate school applications should come with a warning label: "Side effects may include crying in library stacks and developing a concerning relationship with caffeine."