ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Features → Natural Sciences → Mathematics

16 Math memes that make you laugh and then make you think

Who said math can't be funny?

Mihai AndreibyMihai Andrei
December 15, 2022 - Updated on April 30, 2023
in Mathematics
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

Math can be tough and complicated. It’s also the foundation of our modern society, and while it may not always seem like this, it can also be interesting. Perhaps if we look at it in a different light, we could see it differently. A more meme-y light, that is.

Starting off easy, 2’s go well together, whether it’s addition, exponential, or multiplication. But when when it comes to 3’s, it’s not a party. Oh, and don’t even get started with the 0’s.

Zero to the power of zero has been the bane of many mathematicians across the years — and many students at that. They play an important role in limits. Speaking of that, how well do you know your limits?

If you don’t get this joke, it’s actually a variation of one of Zeno’s paradoxes. Zeno’s paradoxes have been debated for centuries, and while the advent of analysis has offered some tools to solve them with, they’re still important food for thought.

If this doesn’t work for you, let’s get to something simpler.

Nothing like a simple factorial joke to get the guys smiling, right?

Or maybe you prefer a good root joke.

RelatedPosts

Stalkerware, the latest privacy threat groups vow to fight
The world didn’t meet one single biodiversity target set out a decade ago
This Forgotten 4,000 km Wall in Mongolia Wasn’t Built for War
When Science and Poetry go out for lunch: the Best Science Limericks

Hopefully, if you don’t get the one above, you need to square up. Oh, and you might really hate the next few ones, cause we’re about to dive into some integral parts of mathematics.

Seriously, how can a single ‘1’ make such a big difference — and make so many highschoolers and university students cry?

Seriously, this ∫ has made so many of us cry. Integrals are hard.

Derivatives are also pretty hard, but they don’t affect everyone. In particular, they don’t affect ex — of course, in this case, e is Euler’s number, a mathematical constant approximately equal to 2.71828, and the base of natural logarithms. The derivative of ex is ex and the number is not affected by derivation.

This one should have probably followed the other integral ones, but it’s hard to stomach too many integral memes in a row. Yet again, another one to make students cry — forgetting the “plus C”.

Not everything is integration, thank God, some things are as simple as a simple plot.

Did I mention how common it is to forget the constant of integration (the “plus C”) in integrals?

Oftentimes, mathematics can seem abstract, but other times, it gets very concrete. Like here:

Here’s one that will make Pythagoras fans cry — an impossible triangle with the sides of 0, 1, and the complex number i. By the way, can you tell why this triangle doesn’t make sense?

If you thought that triangle was wrong, well, wait ’til you see how we can extrapolate absurd things.

For some reason, Pythagoras’ theory is hard to get, making social distancing very difficult geometrically.

Lastly, let’s end with another derivative meme. You’re never changing ex, you derivative girl.

ShareTweetShare
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Dr. Andrei Mihai is a geophysicist and founder of ZME Science. He has a Ph.D. in geophysics and archaeology and has completed courses from prestigious universities (with programs ranging from climate and astronomy to chemistry and geology). He is passionate about making research more accessible to everyone and communicating news and features to a broad audience.

Related Posts

Environment

The UK Government Says You Should Delete Emails to Save Water. That’s Dumb — and Hypocritical

byMihai Andrei
2 days ago
Health

In Denmark, a Vaccine Is Eliminating a Type of Cervical Cancer

byMihai Andrei
2 days ago
This Picture of the Week shows a stunning spiral galaxy known as NGC 4945. This little corner of space, near the constellation of Centaurus and over 12 million light-years away, may seem peaceful at first — but NGC 4945 is locked in a violent struggle. At the very centre of nearly every galaxy is a supermassive black hole. Some, like the one at the centre of our own Milky Way, aren’t particularly hungry. But NGC 4945’s supermassive black hole is ravenous, consuming huge amounts of matter — and the MUSE instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has caught it playing with its food. This messy eater, contrary to a black hole’s typical all-consuming reputation, is blowing out powerful winds of material. This cone-shaped wind is shown in red in the inset, overlaid on a wider image captured with the MPG/ESO telescope at La Silla. In fact, this wind is moving so fast that it will end up escaping the galaxy altogether, lost to the void of intergalactic space. This is part of a new study that measured how winds move in several nearby galaxies. The MUSE observations show that these incredibly fast winds demonstrate a strange behaviour: they actually speed up far away from the central black hole, accelerating even more on their journey to the galactic outskirts. This process ejects potential star-forming material from a galaxy, suggesting that black holes control the fates of their host galaxies by dampening the stellar birth rate. It also shows that the more powerful black holes impede their own growth by removing the gas and dust they feed on, driving the whole system closer towards a sort of galactic equilibrium. Now, with these new results, we are one step closer to understanding the acceleration mechanism of the winds responsible for shaping the evolution of galaxies, and the history of the universe. Links  Research paper in Nature Astronomy by Marconcini et al. Close-up view of NGC 4945’s nucleus
News

Astronomers Find ‘Punctum,’ a Bizarre Space Object That Might be Unlike Anything in the Universe

byTibi Puiu
2 days ago
News

Drone fishing is already a thing. It’s also already a problem

byMihai Andrei
2 days ago

Recent news

The UK Government Says You Should Delete Emails to Save Water. That’s Dumb — and Hypocritical

August 16, 2025

In Denmark, a Vaccine Is Eliminating a Type of Cervical Cancer

August 16, 2025
This Picture of the Week shows a stunning spiral galaxy known as NGC 4945. This little corner of space, near the constellation of Centaurus and over 12 million light-years away, may seem peaceful at first — but NGC 4945 is locked in a violent struggle. At the very centre of nearly every galaxy is a supermassive black hole. Some, like the one at the centre of our own Milky Way, aren’t particularly hungry. But NGC 4945’s supermassive black hole is ravenous, consuming huge amounts of matter — and the MUSE instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has caught it playing with its food. This messy eater, contrary to a black hole’s typical all-consuming reputation, is blowing out powerful winds of material. This cone-shaped wind is shown in red in the inset, overlaid on a wider image captured with the MPG/ESO telescope at La Silla. In fact, this wind is moving so fast that it will end up escaping the galaxy altogether, lost to the void of intergalactic space. This is part of a new study that measured how winds move in several nearby galaxies. The MUSE observations show that these incredibly fast winds demonstrate a strange behaviour: they actually speed up far away from the central black hole, accelerating even more on their journey to the galactic outskirts. This process ejects potential star-forming material from a galaxy, suggesting that black holes control the fates of their host galaxies by dampening the stellar birth rate. It also shows that the more powerful black holes impede their own growth by removing the gas and dust they feed on, driving the whole system closer towards a sort of galactic equilibrium. Now, with these new results, we are one step closer to understanding the acceleration mechanism of the winds responsible for shaping the evolution of galaxies, and the history of the universe. Links  Research paper in Nature Astronomy by Marconcini et al. Close-up view of NGC 4945’s nucleus

Astronomers Find ‘Punctum,’ a Bizarre Space Object That Might be Unlike Anything in the Universe

August 15, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.