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alt title(s): Radicals Are Radical
So you see, it's perfectly simple. Any questions, class?
As You Know, some cartoon writers didn't exactly do well in school. So, it seems that, with the passing of time, all their knowledge of math was condensed into a pile of information that they know pasted on every chalkboard in school scenes or written in class notes, regardless of the knowledge necessary to understand those equations.

For example, a fourth-grade class will sometimes have "pi" (π) written on the board, which would scare the students who should still be learning simple arithmetic. Other popular examples are integrals, and their well-known "large S" ( ∫ ) symbol. Very often, however, there won't be any variable of integration. Elementary algebra will be represented as something like "x + y = z", which is entirely meaningless without a description of what the variables represent or how they relate to each other.

Let's not forget about E=mc2, the famous equation which has been degraded into nothing but a complex-looking decoration in everything from kids' cartoons to science shows. (E=mc2 is actually Albert Einstein's formula for mass-energy equivalence; far more people have heard of it than have any idea of what it actually means.) And then there's the big sigma (∑), the summation symbol. Nothing says smart like a giant sigma.

Trigonometric relations and the Pythagorean theorem are also popular. But don't ask to see words like "sine", "cosine", and "tangent". a^2 = b^2•c^2-2•b•c•cos(θ) you simpleton.

And math isn't the only subject that gets this treatment. Blackboards full of chemical formulae, sentence diagrams or plot/theme/character diagrams that stretch all over the whiteboard, or genealogies and timelines that look like a tangle of yarn are less common, but serve the same purpose.

This happens for three reasons: First, to ensure that there is some teaching going on, as the show itself thankfully never needs to show the actual classes. Second, to scare the young viewers into believing that they're going to see this stuff when they get older. Third, as a way of showing someone is really smart, often combining it with Room Full Of Crazy.


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