Study Prof

Trying to memorize formulas or equations?  You can use mnemonics, as I’ve mentioned previously, but you’ll need to modify your methods a bit to take into account numbers and symbols.  Perhaps the best way to make the method clear is to give you a few examples.

Let’s look at the quadratic formula first.

Going from left to right, I turn the formula into a story or scene with each number and symbol represented in the story.

• X is an x-ray man; I can see right through his skin to his skeleton.
• He walks across a narrow bridge made of two planks–that’s the equals sign–and comes upon a log lying on the grass (the minus sign).
• On the end of the log there sits a pregnant woman, facing away from him (that’s the letter “b”.  It reminds me of a stick-figure drawing of a seated pregnant woman, her belly being the round part of the “b”.)
• She’s crying as she looks over the grave of her husband (the “plus/minus” symbol looks like a cross on top of a grave).
• There is a long twisted tree in the distance–that’s the square root symbol.
• Under the tree is another pregnant woman, but this one is smiling and pleased at the swan sitting on her knees (the b with the 2 exponent as the swan, since 2 has a swan-like shape).
• The swan hops off her knees and onto a fallen tree branch–the minus sign.
• It picks up a large knife (the number 4 sort of looks like a vertical knife resting on it’s handle)
• And cuts up an apple (“a”) and a carrot (“c”) and then throws them into the lake down the slope from the tree.  I see the long bar between the numerator and the denominator of the formula as the lake shore.
• The sliced apple lands on the back of a big black swan swimming in the lake (2a)

I try to picture this as clearly as possible using my senses and emotions.  I clearly imagine the location, the clouds above, the smell of the grass, the twisted square-root shape of the ancient oak, and the mournful tears of the pregnant dark-haired woman contemplating her husband’s fresh grave.  I can taste the apple the swan is cutting up and feel the cool wooden handle of the knife.  I hear the kerplunk of the carrot falling into the water and feel the soft feathers where the apple rests on the black swan’s back.  The more clearly I imagine the scene–as if I were actually there–the easier it will be to recall.

Yes, going through this process takes time, but if you fully imagine it you will find it unforgettable!  Unforgettable means less study for you.  It actually saves time!  The same process works for memorizing any formula or equation.

Need some more examples?  How about this monster?

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