History Main / EEqualsMCHammer

* FanArt for the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': HotScientist Bugs, who is a genius deviser with a fascination with egg shapes: [[http://drunkfu.deviantart.com/art/Bugs-Fanarts-of-Whateley-144787113 here.]]

** This is lampshaded and blasted to bits in ''Machinima/FreemansMind''.

* There is a "joke proof" that has [[TheOldestOnesInTheBook been around for decades]] that attempts to use simple algebra to prove "[[http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/math/how-to-prove-that-1-2 if a=b then 1=2]]". The problem with the proof is that, at one point, both sides of the equation are divided by (a-b); since this is zero, this can be used as an example proof of why you can't DivideByZero. Wiki/TheOtherWiki has a page full of similar [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_fallacy spurious proofs]].

* ''Radio/LoZooDi105'': An ''Unreal Radio'' sketch (aired on March the 21st, 2011) had "Professor ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Franchise/{{Batman}} [[UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein Einstein]] [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]] Jr."[[note]](no, really - that OverlyLongName being spelled exactly like that is a RunningGag[=/=]OverlyLongGag in said sketch)[[/note]] trying to solve the "[[UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan Jordan]]-Chiambretti theorem", which "explains why [[CaptainObvious there are so little short basketball players.]]"

Then there's E=mc[--[[superscript:2]]--], the famous equation which has been degraded into nothing but a complex-looking decoration in everything from kids' cartoons to science shows. (E=mc[--[[superscript:2]]--] is actually UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein's formula for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass-energy_equivalence mass-energy equivalence]]; far more people have heard of it than [[YouKeepUsingThatWord have any idea of what it actually means]].) Especially comical if it's pronounced [[FunetikAksent "eeyemseetwo"]] by people who don't realize the two represents an exponent.

*** His first episode ([[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath "Deep Breath"]]) takes this UpToEleven. While suffering from a severe bout of amnesia and delirium, he gets a hold of a piece of chalk and covers ''[[RoomFullOfCrazy his entire bedroom]]'' in mathematical equations.

* Professor Utonium's lab in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''. And Pokey Oaks Kindergarten. In one episode, Ms. Keane starts out with "1 + 1 = 2", then proceeds to give [[ChekhovsClassroom a theoretical description of time travel.]]

* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', Doctor Andonuts has a big chalkboard in his lab with nothing written on it but a big "E=mc[--[[superscript:2]]--]".

* In ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', there are posters around that list paradoxes in the event of a [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue AI.]] One of the listed paradoxes is "Does a set of all sets contain itself?" [[note]]This is clearly based on Russell's Paradox: "Does a set of all sets that do not contain themselves contain itself?" The way it's written, though, it's a nonstarter. The "set" of Russell's Paradox is a subset of this "set", and thus, the "set" described isn't a set.[[/note]][[note]]Although it does actually function as a version of the Liar Paradox. The ObviousRulePatch for Russell's Paradox is that a set cannot contain itself. Thus the set of all sets does not contain itself, and is not the set of all sets.[[/note]]

* ''WebAnimation/AnnoyingOrange'': In "Easy as Pi", Professor Pie gets sliced throughout the episode, and after a while, he spits out stuff like this due to the removal of his brain.
-->'''Professor Pie:''' And the number on the bottom of the fraction is called the "denuptiderp". Now if we add 5 plus 7 bananas we get the color purple.

* [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1420.html This strip]] of ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic''.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2641 literally]]. ("It's kinda like science!")

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'':
** A whiteboard in the opening scene has the formula for gravity written on it. This is in a lab that works in theoretical physics. Ross Scott makes fun of this in his ''Machinima/FreemansMind'' machinima.
** The FanRemake ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'' includes numerous formulae on the whiteboards of the labs in the opening segments, this time of the sort that physicists studying exotic materials might actually be using.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' usually has Sandy show [=SpongeBob=] some equations.
** One instance of this has Sandy showing [=SpongeBob=] an equation that is a bizarre hybrid of a function and an infinite limit.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has done this as well.
** Sometimes justified, since the teacher that appears most often believes that math means nothing in a universe where fairies exist.

* Professor Utonium's lab in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''.
** And Pokey Oaks Kindergarten. In one episode, Ms. Keane starts out with "1 + 1 = 2", then proceeds to give [[ChekhovsClassroom a theoretical description of time travel.]]

* The intro to ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' has a scene where Brain is writing his "theory of everything" on a chalkboard, which is basically a bunch of pseudo-mathematical mumbo-jumbo, including "[[StockShoutOuts THX=1138]]".
** Spoofed in another episode which has Brain reveal that his latest plan to take over the world was hinged on an equation he had just uncovered. Pinky askes him if it is something complicated like E=mc[--[[superscript:2]]--], and Brain replies that it is in fact even simpler, just E.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is fond of this one. When Homer has a bright idea, the camera would occasionally do a close-up of his head, revealing two chimpanzees in graduation gowns and mortarboards writing E=mc[--[[superscript:2]]--] on a chalkboard. Otherwise, the chimps would be grooming each other and eating the lice.

*** Also done in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''. The boys finally solved it by replacing the bomb with a smiley face.

*** Note that the co-worker's correction is nowhere near complete, because the formula refers to the squares, nor the square roots, and "the remaining side" has to be the hypotenuse. [[RuleOfFunny But that wouldn't be as funny.]]

** Similarly, WesternAnimation/DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury does this on a graph of outer space as he tells eager young space cadet Porky Pig how to reach Planet X. The graph is an incoherent mess yet Dodgers explains this as if he knows what he's talking about.

* Not actually an equation, but the blackboard in computer science class in ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'' shows an entirely plausible and workable (partial) code for a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway_game Conway's Game of Life]] implementation. It's a bit too straightforward and not very efficient, but then, it ''is'' a teaching example. What's interesting here is that the code is written in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Lisp Common Lisp]] -- a somewhat obscure programming language, but one with a long history of an [[ViewersAreGeniuses intellectual superiority]]. Which is entirely in tune with the show's ViewersAreGeniuses approach.

* One strip of the newspaper comic ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' has InsufferableGenius Jason Fox, a ten-year-old, solving a simple division problem on his class chalkboard. In the process, he also rewrites the equation in about a dozen different ways, many of which would require knowledge of trigonometry or calculus to understand. Given that the cartoonist Bill Amend majored in physics in college, all of them are correct.

** Yet another strip has Jason presenting Paige with an alphanumeric cipher with a twist: the key is comprised of 26 ''math problems'', one for each letter of the alphabet. One of the clues involves integral calculus (but of course it's for Q, which doesn't get used much). [[spoiler: The answer is "PAIGE FOX IS BAD AT MATH".]]

** Also note that symbols such as pi have by now been used in pretty much every subject of math and physics. Often in quantum field theory textbooks, for example, there are equations with pi taken to mean momentum density expressed as a formula that includes pi (the number). Surprisingly, people are never confused. The context is sufficient to eliminate any doubt -- which is exactly why viewers of Film/ABeautifulMind were confused: the statement was presented without a context.

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'': A whiteboard in the opening scene has the formula for gravity written on it. This is in a lab that works in theoretical physics. Ross Scott makes fun of this in his ''Machinima/FreemansMind'' machinima.

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', Einstein is inspired when Yakko, Wakko, and Dot sing the ACME Song and Wakko writes it backwards, with the "a" resembling a "2", resulting in [=Emc2=]. Al merely added an "=" between the "E" and "m".
** Earlier in the same episode, the board was filled with calculations that Einstein had given up on in frustration... one of them being "H[[subscript:2]]O=WET".

* A whiteboard in the opening scene of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' has the formula for gravity written on it. This is in a lab that works in theoretical physics. Ross Scott makes fun of this in his ''Machinima/FreemansMind'' machinima. [[SarcasmMode "Having trouble remembering that one, guys?"]]

** On a similar note, in ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'''s cooperative mode, some whiteboards have Fourier transforms written on them. This would be quite useful for a lab that screws with physics as much as Aperture does.
*** And early in the single-player game, a wall in one of Ratman's [[RoomFullOfCrazy Rooms Full of Crazy]] shows a cat jumping (or perhaps tunneling? {probably tunneling in a reference to the phenomenon of quantum tunneling}) out of a box, along with various UsefulNotes/QuantumPhysics equations, a reference to the UsefulNotes/SchrodingersCat thought experiment that was played with in the tie-in ''Lab Rat'' comic.

** The FanRemake ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'' includes numerous formulae on the whiteboards of the labs in the opening segments, this time of the sort that theoretical physicists studying exotic materials might actually be using.

* An episode of ''Series/StargateSG1'' had Major Carter guest-lecturing Air Force cadets on a multiple-universe theory, in front of the "chalk board full of formulae" version of this trope. According to the episode's commentary, the mathematics on the board were real. Carter made an original mistake as well -- she accidentally inverted one of the ratios.
** Only time in the entire series she screws up math.
** A cadet actually walks up and stares at the board before pointing out the mistake, only to be chastised by the professor for correcting a scholar. Carter then re-examines the problem and also sees the mistake, noting that it completely changes the problem. She is then very interested in the cadet for being smart enough to spot it.

Compare/contrast to FormulaForTheUnformulable, when characters try to calculate the incalculable and use visually similar equations.

Furthermore, there're only two mathematical mistakes anyone ever makes, no matter how advanced their knowledge of the field; they either "[[MisplacedADecimalPoint misplaced the decimal point]]" or "[[CarryTheOne forgot to carry the one]]". ([[http://www.math.vanderbilt.edu/~schectex/commerrs/#Signs Sign errors]], which are more common, are conveniently absent.)

Then there's E=mc[--[[superscript:2]]--], the famous equation which has been degraded into nothing but a complex-looking decoration in everything from kids' cartoons to science shows. (E=mc[--[[superscript:2]]--] is actually UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein's formula for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass-energy_equivalence mass-energy equivalence]]; far more people have heard of it than [[YouKeepUsingThatWord have any idea of what it actually means]]). Especially comical if it's pronounced [[FunetikAksent "eeyemseetwo"]] by people who don't realize the two represents an exponent.

* One strip of the newspaper comic ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' has InsufferableGenius Jason Fox, a ten-year-old, solving a simple division problem on his class chalkboard. He rewrites the equation in about a dozen different ways, many of which would require knowledge of trigonometry or calculus to understand. Given that the cartoonist Bill Amend majored in physics in college, all of them are correct.
** Another strip has Jason serving as Paige's math tutor and the latter asking him what is the cosine of 60 degrees. Jason then starts rattling off a really long sum and only stops when Paige reminds him she's not paying him by the hour. Said sum is the actual Taylor series expansion of the cosine meaning of course he could continue going forever. The answer she was looking for is 0.5.

* A whiteboard in the opening scene of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' has the formula for gravity written on it. This is in a lab that works in theoretical physics. Ross Scott makes fun of this in his Machinima/FreemansMind machinima. [[SarcasmMode "Having trouble remembering that one, guys?"]]

* The opening animation and title screen of WebOriginal/GameTheory features a complicated equation that somehow involves Mario jumping over a [[WaddlingHead Goomba]].

* The calculation UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton posits to Creator/BillNye. "The integral sec y dy from 0 to 1/6 of pi is log to base e of the square-root of 3 times the 64th power of [[BigWhat WHAT?!]]. It's a real equation newton developed, (obviously without the WHAT?! at the end), and [[UsefulNotes/NeilDeGrasseTyson Tyson's]] answer of 'I' (the imaginary number) is actually correct. (1 or -1 are also valid)