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From cats to cars, films, and anthropology, these days there really isn’t a subject that doesn’t have a dedicated meme page or ten about it. Naturally, science and physics in particular are no exception. 

The “Physics Meme” Instagram page shares funny and brainy posts all about science, scientists, and their trials and tribulations. So get comfortable, break out your scientific calculator, and scroll through these memes. Be sure to upvote your favorites and comment your thoughts below. 

More info: Instagram

#1

Physics joke comparing metric systems, depicting a deer described using unconventional measurements.

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    #3

    Schrödinger's cat meme: a black cat surrounded by physics equations, symbolizing quantum mechanics humor.

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    Sergy Yeltsen
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The cat has neater handwriting than I do. :(

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    While most of the information in these sorts of meme pages is pretty lighthearted, created to evoke a chuckle or two from viewers, memes are also a great way to share some simple information in a way that is easy to process and retain. So if you want a quick refresher on some physics, internet posts can often do the job faster than your old notes from middle school. 

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    Of course, this sort of quick, humorous information often does cut corners to explain a concept here or there. So it can be worth quickly debunking some common misconceptions. First and foremost, an object's weight isn’t what makes it easy to push and pull, instead, it is inertia. In other words, massively heavy objects in space do still require some effort to move, despite their weightlessness. 

    #4

    Two goats defying physics by climbing a steep cliff, illustrating a humorous take on physics concepts.

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    Sergy Yeltsen
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And cats. But I think we all know cats are non-newtonian liquids. Goats... I don't know.

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    #6

    Physicist humor meme with Schrödinger and a cat in a box, illustrating a classic physics joke.

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    HelluvaHedgehogAlien
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That’s the smile of a cat-imprisoning psychopath /jk

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    In other words, in space, an object is weightless, yet it won’t feel as “light as a feather” (in Earth’s gravity). This caveat is really not important to remember for 99% of the population but given that a lot of physics research focuses on space, it still remains an important detail. And this way, you can claim that you simply have a lot of inertia, whenever you need an excuse for stubbornness. 

    #8

    Map comparison of metric vs. imperial systems, highlighting countries using each system for a physics meme and joke context.

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    SM
    Community Member
    1 year ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The coloring is wrong. The US uses both. Now the fact that UK hassles the US over this (not acknowledging the fact that we use both) is 100% correct.

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    #9

    Newton meme illustrating physics with a prism and rainbow colors.

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    And speaking of space, most of us probably have a very incorrect idea of how large, research telescopes function. While the hobbyist variants that we can buy in stores aren’t that different from the ones used by Galileo or Nicolaus Copernicus, the ones used by major space agencies actually rely on gathering very specific types of light and waves, like x-rays and radio waves. 

    #10

    Math professor meme humorously explaining radius and diameter with a fictional character's weapon.

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    Toggaph de Dratersi
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If only I had a teacher like that I wouldn't hate math to this day...

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    Even our basic discussions of space much resemble the physics problems we had to solve in school. Ignore air resistance, was a classic, or the assertion that some action was happening in a vacuum. Similarly, we assume that, in space, we are weightless. However, even in space, there is still some gravitational pull. Not much on a lone astronaut, but on a planet, quite a bit more. 

    #13

    Cartoon character reveals "Physics" behind a "Space is cool" mask, humorously summing up physics.

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    Stardust she/her
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Astronomy isn’t that bad, it’s interesting physics (at least for me)

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    #15

    Physics meme comparing Nikola Tesla crafting and Thomas Edison mining.

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    TotallyNOTAFox
    Community Member
    1 year ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Hiram Maxim can relate - he got send out of the way because Edison felt threatened by him. Being bored in Great Britain lead him to work on the first machine gun....

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    Much of our interaction with space does come through sending people and bits of technology into orbit or even further. To do this, naturally, we need rockets. Rockets, as one might guess, are quite complicated. “It’s not rocket science!” one might exclaim about something relatively easy, unless, of course, it really is rocket science. 

    #16

    Text-based meme humorously connecting math and physics with a well-known movie reference.

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    Scott Rackley
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wait till Thanos meets the final boss, Godel

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    A common misconception about rockets is that rockets “push” their payload forward. Once you take into account the fact that they still work in space, where there is nothing to push off of, you realize that, actually, they simply move the object in the opposite direction of themselves. If that was confusing, don’t fret, it is, after all, actually rocket science

    #20

    Man posing at gravestone labeled "Oliver Queen." Text: "Me researching about Nikola Tesla" and "My respect for Thomas Edison."

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    Scott Rackley
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Truth, he was Steve Jobs before Steve Jobs. Just hired smart people and stole from them legally, except Nikola. Who he tried to ruin through duplicity.

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    #21

    Avengers meme humorously depicting struggles with math and physics concepts.

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    #22

    Split image meme depicting reactions to algebra in math; humorous take on understanding physics.

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    lost hedgehog
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    whenever i get a whole number as an answer i thank the heavens

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    #23

    Confused puppet meme alongside a physics diagram illustrating interference patterns.

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    Mark
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wait so how did we observe the first result?

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    #27

    Sad doge and muscular doge meme humorously depicting phone calculator evolution in physics jokes.

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    Wintermute
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Holy c**p. I had no idea. That's pretty cool actually.

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    #29

    Two contrasting images depict reactions to online physics teaching.

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    nancy
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A good teacher will admit when they don't know everything, and if showing a youtube video helps clarify the concept, then it's the right thing to do.

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    #30

    Man labeled "Albert Einstein" confronting armed man, symbolizing physics debate humor.

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    Wingsofwrath
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He's holding that RPG-7 wrong - it should be right hand on trigger and left pushing the grip into the shoulder to have the venturi nozzle as far from you as possible. Holding it like this will scorch his back and/or rupture his eardrums.

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    #31

    Bar chart meme humorously illustrating what gives physicists feelings of power, highlighting the Greek alphabet.

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    #33

    Tom the cat depicted as a cube, humorously simplifying physics assumptions.

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    The Idaho Potato
    Community Member
    1 year ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Assume a spherical cow with an organ density of ρ(r)=-cr^-1 that is emitting a magnetic field. Use Gauss's law to calculate the electric field outside the cow, inside the cow and on the surface of the cow. :D

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    #34

    Man reacts humorously in meme about physics and Pythagoras, questioning a triangle lacking a 90-degree angle.

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    FaceTime Audio
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    *law of sines has entered the chat* *law of cosines has entered the chat*

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    #37

    Man breaking a log labeled with mathematical expressions, humorously referencing physics concepts.

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    Eric Williams
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    also... there are 10 kinds of people. those who understand binary and those who don't.

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    #39

    Surreal meme depicting a celestial being labeled as Einstein and Newton with humorous text about the alphabet song.

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    HelluvaHedgehogAlien
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Ever heard of dictionaries? Flip through these 10 times a day

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    #41

    Funny-Physics-Memes

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    #43

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    #45

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    #47

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    Hannah McCoy
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    dont forget teenage girls obsessed with percy jackson books!

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    #48

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    Mark
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That one pot in the middle of the night agrees

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    #51

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    #52

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    Mark
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Or 6… *laughs in quadratic equation*

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    #53

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    Bored something
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    But how many fish slaps? Is it cooked by the end of the dance?

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    #54

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    YTK
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The t’s have one less than the a’s. You can’t unsee this

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    #56

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    Ace
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The whole point of explosives is that they contain everything needed to produce the bang. Would still work underwater, although it's not recommended.

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    #58

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    SM
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Actually, this is only true in very specific cases. For instance, you have to be a sea level pressure.

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    #60

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    FaceTime Audio
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I always check with a calculator, until it starts refusing to round square roots into decimals in favor of creating stacked fraction-root behemoths, and then I just throw the calculator across the room in rage.

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    #61

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    David Paterson
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Twisted itself into a hypercube. Also known as a tesseract and as an 8-cell. Because the image above contains 8 cubes.

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    #62

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    Mark
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And it was in that moment that Newton realized that apples do not talk

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    #63

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    #65

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    #67

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    HelluvaHedgehogAlien
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Pieces of toast always land butter side down. Cats always land on their feet. Therefore, tie toast to cat, drop from 1 meter, and observe infinite energy spin

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    #68

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    Mark
    Community Member
    1 year ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Noo, it’s a^2+2ab+b^2! On that note why does the addition sign look so weird?

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    #69

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    #70

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    Elliot Blumenau
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Committing crimes with both direction and magnitude!

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    #71

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    David Paterson
    Community Member
    1 year ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    REAL astronomers use parsecs. REAL astrophysicists use centimeters. Only plebs like me use light years.

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    #74

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    David Paterson
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Slope of a straight line dy/dx = y/x. The d's cancel.

    #75

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    Stardust she/her
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We do write it as fraction depending upon the problem and whether or not it’s specified. The fraction is 22/7 which isn’t the exact value of Pi but it makes calculations easy at times

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    #76

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    #77

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    David Paterson
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I could probably makes sense of that. In Wheeler's units, mass and velocity have the same units. And in general relativity mass appears as a squared term so the sign isn't all that important.

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    #78

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    #79

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    Alexandru Bucur
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    In case you're confused, the one on the right is Astra Space's Rocket 3.3 serial number LV0006, launched on the 28 August 2021, which, because of an engine failure at launch drifted off the pad horizontally for several tens of meters until enough fuel had burned off to allow the thrust to finally overcome gravity and move the vehicle vertically. Since the trajectory was off-nominal, the rocket was remotely detonated by range safety at an altitude of 50km (31 mi) before crashing into the ocean downrange of the launch site. The next two rocket launches both reached orbit.

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    #81

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    The Idaho Potato
    Community Member
    1 year ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Or τ as backwards J, or Π as big N, or λ as upside-down y. Happens in my class all the time.

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