294
p is for pHunky (mander.xyz)
top 35 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 10 hours ago

It's power of Hydrogen. We should've been using Watts to measure it this whole time.

[-] SharpieThunderflare@lemmy.ca 62 points 1 day ago

Why is there a random watermark on an xkcd? The original is here, for anyone who wants the alt text: https://xkcd.com/2943/

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 46 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I scrape the bottom of the internet barrel through a special firefox container. It's like growing memes on agar. Sometimes there's a little contam.

[-] IsoSpandy@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago

I was taught potenz in my school textbooks. potenz Hydrogen

[-] pryre@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

Easy. Pico Henry. Not sure why chemists are so concerned with such a small amount of magnetism though...

[-] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 28 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Søren Sørensen, who came up with the concept of pH, wasn't clear on what the letter "p" meant. It does involve powers of 10 and can be measured using electrical potentials, so the best guesses are "potential" or "power", or several words that mean "power" in other languages and also happen to start with "p". Bottom line, we don't know, and unless somebody discovers more of Sørensen's notes or a way to speak with the dead, we never will.

[-] Geodad@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago

We can all speak to the dead. The problem is that they can't answer.

[-] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 9 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

That's why I was careful to say, "speak with dead," (after the D&D spell) implying a conversation.

[-] Deconceptualist@lemm.ee 20 points 1 day ago

Protons. As in protons, How many. On a weird logarithmic scale with 7 in the middle, of course.

[-] ArsonButCute@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago

The p is for potential, as in potential Hydrogen. pH can be used to establish a concentration of protium (H+) in solution. When learning about pH in school, we used pOH (potential hydroxide) as well to speak about bases.

[-] emuspawn@orbiting.observer 61 points 1 day ago
[-] Agent641@lemmy.world 9 points 17 hours ago

I'm french, what does this say?

[-] emuspawn@orbiting.observer 9 points 16 hours ago
[-] TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 5 points 2 hours ago

Je crois que il a besoin de VPN pour voir ce méme

[-] loomy@lemy.lol 10 points 1 day ago
[-] Agent641@lemmy.world 1 points 17 hours ago
[-] JayDee@lemmy.sdf.org 27 points 1 day ago

That's actually an interesting one.

The 'p' could have a different meaning for a variety of languages. 'Puissance' in French, 'Potenz' in German, 'potential' or 'power' in English, 'pondus' or 'potentia' in Latin, or 'Potens' in Danish (probably the Danish one originally, since it was a Danish chemist who first introduced the measurement).

It's very fun that because of the vagueness, various languages can have its meaning directly translated to their own.

[-] mmddmm@lemm.ee 10 points 1 day ago

All those words have the same meaning.

[-] porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 day ago

And the same origin, it's not a coincidence they all start with P

[-] Gutek8134@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

There's also pico-, prefix for 10^-12

[-] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago

Oh we're going to pHight today, is that it?

[-] Siegfried@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Potencial de hidrógeno

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 6 points 1 day ago
[-] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

Phat-ass hydrogen

[-] Puttaneska@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Negative log of the concentration of…(Hydrogen ions, in pH).

[-] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 1 points 1 day ago

I don't get what the joke is

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Nobody actually knows what the p means but we keep using it anyway. The guy who coined it is long dead.

[-] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 2 points 1 day ago

Doesn't it mean "potential" ?

[-] Midnitte@beehaw.org 2 points 11 hours ago

Potentially

[-] AnarchistArtificer@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I thought it was "power". That's probably wrong though.

this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2025
294 points (97.7% liked)

Science Memes

15116 readers
3479 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS