Memorizing
Equations
Memorizing Equations
Equations can be tricky things. There’s a lot of them - they’re abstract and
often complicated, so how can we possibly remember them?
Let’s jump straight in with an example, which I need to make strong,
bold, unusual and above all visual.
Look at the equation on the right. It’s simple in some ways, but it could
be just one of many that we want to remember. It also contains a
Greek letter which looks like an upside-down letter y, called lambda.
Some may be unfamiliar with this letter but, perhaps surprisingly, this
will help! As noted above, it’s easier to remember the unusual.
So how can we go about remembering the equation? We need a story
and a few images…
For me, the key here is λ, lambda. It immediately makes me think of
the word “lamb”. From this I can quickly come up with a little story.
In my story a farmer (f) is bobbing up and down (frequency) in order to
see (c) over the fence, where he can see his lamb (λ). In other words:
An Example Equation
Also, every time the farmer lands it hurts (hertz) a little, so we even have the unit of frequency included.
The image is silly, at least a little, and is therefore unusual. That makes it much more memorable. It’s also strong, bold
and came from my imagination, and these points will also help me to remember the equation. It’s important for you to use
stories and images from your imagination, and this can take a little - but enjoyable - practise at first.
f (farmer) = c (see) over λ (lamb)
And this is how I picture it in my imagination:
Summary, advice and more examples
Make your images and stories strong, bold and unusual and visual. The best pictures are almost always the ones in
your imagination, so make use of them.
Practise by looking around the room and linking (associating) two or three things together. Make the story silly, a little
bit scary or about something that’s important to you. If the first idea doesn’t work, try another.
The best way to remember something is to understand it, but the techniques discussed here are another tool in the
box. It’s one that can be very useful when preparing for an exam!
Click here or on the link below for more examples together with further advice and tips.
Let’s start with a simple question. What did you have for lunch three months and
four days ago? You probably can’t remember (I certainly can’t!). But what if on
that day you had had lunch with a very grand and regal queen who kept burping
extremely loudly. Would you remember what you had?
Did you picture the scene with the queen burping? What about now I’ve
mentioned it? Can you also imagine looking down and see what’s on your
plate?
If you can that’s because we not only tend to remember unusual things, but also
the things associated with them. This is called association, and is the key to
quickly and easily memorizing equations. Even if an event never happened
we can imagine it and associate something with the scene we are “seeing”. This
is a very powerful memorization tool.
How does the system work?
Advertisement
How to Memorize Equations
Memorizing Equations
Equations can be tricky things. There’s a lot of them - they’re
abstract and often complicated, so how can we possibly
remember them?
An Example Equation
Let’s jump straight in with an example, which I need to make
strong, bold, unusual and above all visual.
Look at the equation below. It’s simple in some ways, but it could
be just one of many that we want to remember. It also contains a
Greek letter which looks like an upside-down letter y, called
lambda. Some may be unfamiliar with this letter but, perhaps
surprisingly, this will help! As noted above, it’s easier to
remember the unusual.
f (farmer) = c (see) over λ (lamb)
And this is how I picture it in my imagination:
Also, every time the farmer lands it hurts
(hertz) a little, so we even have the unit of
frequency included.
The image is silly, at least a little, and is
therefore unusual. That makes it much more
memorable. It’s also strong, bold and came
from my imagination, and these points will
also help me to remember the equation. It’s
important for you to use stories and images
from your imagination, and this can take a
little - but enjoyable - practise at first.
Summary, advice and more examples
Make your images and stories strong, bold and unusual. The
best pictures are almost always the ones in your imagination, so
make use of them.
Practise by looking around the room and linking (associating)
two or three things together. Make the story silly, a little bit scary
or about something that’s important to you. If the first idea
doesn’t work, try another.
The best way to remember something is to understand it, but the
techniques discussed here are another tool in the box. It’s one
that can be very useful when preparing for an exam!
Click here or on the link below for more examples together with
further advice and tips.
So how can we go about remembering the equation? We need a
story and a few images…
For me, the key here is λ, lambda. It immediately makes me
think of the word “lamb”. From this I can quickly come up with a
little story.
In my story a farmer (f) is bobbing up and down (frequency) in
order to see (c) over the fence, where he can see his lamb (λ). In
other words:
Let’s start with a simple question. What did you have for lunch
three months and four days ago? You probably can’t remember
(I certainly can’t!). But what if on that day you had had lunch with
a very grand and regal queen who kept burping extremely loudly.
Would you remember what you had?
Did you picture the scene with the queen burping? What about
now I’ve mentioned it? Can you also imagine looking down and
see what’s on your plate?
If you can that’s because we not only tend to remember unusual
things, but also the things associated with them. This is called
association, and is the key to quickly and easily memorizing
equations. Even if an event never happened we can imagine it
and associate something with the scene we are “seeing”. This is
a very powerful memorization tool.
How does the system work?
Advertisement
