Mnemonics

This is a collection of some mnemonics that I discovered on the internet or have come up with myself. I only use a portion of these right now—some are classics whereas others are included for completeness.

Mnemonics that I've shared on the weblog:

• Mnemonic for US states
• Mnemonic for number of days in each month

Major system

[Wikipedia]

The consonant sounds of h, w, and y can be added freely since they don’t appear on the list. For example, 32 can become man, human, woman, or Yemen.

Morse code

[Wikipedia, Vsauce video]

Numerals

Alphabets

Note: In word mnemonics, short letters (aceimnorsuvwxz) correspond to a dot and tall letters (bdfghjklpqty) or uppercase letters correspond to a dash. These are taken from Douglas Harder.

*: Tall letters with morse code starting with a dot.

Characters

CS and Programming

• OSI Network Layer model (Physical, Datalink, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, Application):

  Please Do Not Throw Sausage Pizza Away
  Please Do Not Teach Students Pointless Acronyms

• CSS margin: TRouBLe (Top Right Bottom Left)

  .class {
    margin: T R B L 
  }
  

Math

• Order of Operations (Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, Addition and Subtraction):

  PEMDAS

• Euler's characteristic (X = F + V - E):

  fav.me (F add V, minus E)

• Trigonometric ratios (Sine = Opposite / Hypotenuse, Cosine = Adjacent / Hypotenuse, Tangent = Opposite / Adjacent):

  SOH CAH TOA

• Determining which functions are to be chosen as u and DV in integration by parts (Logarithmic, Inverse trigonometric, Algebraic, Trigonometric, Exponential):

  LIATE

• Sign of each trigonometric functions in each quadrant of the plane: All Students Take Calculus or ASTC

  • Quadrant I: All trigonometric functions are positive.
  • Quadrant II: Sine and cosecant functions are positive.
  • Quadrant III: Tangent and cotangent functions are positive.
  • Quadrant IV: Cosine and secant functions are positive.

• e (2.718281828459045)

  • Andrew Jackson was the 7th president of the US: 7
  • He was elected in 1828 and served two terms: 1828 1828
  • His favorite type of triangle was the right angled isosceles triangle: 45 90 45

Science

• Order of planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto):

  My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets
  For eight planets: My Very Easy Memory Jingle Seems Useless Now

• Colors of rainbow (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet):

  ROYGBIV (VIBGYOR in reverse)

• Layers of atmosphere (Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere):

  The Strong Man's Triceps Exploded
  The Sick Man's Thermometer Exploded

• Diatomic elements (Bromine, Iodine, Nitrogen, Chlorine, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine):

  BrINClHOF (pronounced 'brinkelhoff')

• PANIC: Positive Anode Negative Is Cathode.

• LEO the lion says GER: Loss of Electrons, Oxidation; Gain of Electrons, Reduction

• AN OIL CAT RIG

  At the ANode, Oxidation Involves electron Loss.
  At the CAThode, Reduction Involves electron Gain.

• Speed of light (299,792,458):

  nabob cabin relief (Major system)
  We guarantee certainty, clearly referring to this light mnemonic (Counting the number of letters in each word)

• Increasing frequency or decreasing wavelength of electromagnetic waves (Radio waves, Microwaves, Infrared, Visible light, Ultraviolet, X-Rays, Gamma Rays):

  Rich Men In Vegas Use eXpensive Gadgets
  Opposite order: Good Xylophones Use Very Interesting Musical Rhythms

• Order of taxa in biology (Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, [Variety]):

  Dear King Philip Came Over For Good Soup.

• Resistor color codes: Better Be Right Or Your Great Big Vacation Goes Wrong

  • 0 = Black
  • 1 = Brown
  • 2 = Red
  • 3 = Orange
  • 4 = Yellow
  • 5 = Green
  • 6 = Blue
  • 7 = Violet
  • 8 = Gray
  • 9 = White

• Differentiating stalactites from stalagmites:

  The 'mites go up and the 'tites come down

• 10 organ systems of the human body (Nervous, Integumentary, Circulatory, Endocrine, Respiratory, Digestive, Reproductive, Urinary, Muscular, Skeletal):

  NICER DRUMS

Geography

• The Great Lakes in order of largest to smallest (Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, Ontario):

  Super Heroes Must Eat Oats (or SHMEO)

• Major cities of Australia (clockwise): BSC MAPD H:

  Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Hobart

Chess

• Setting up a chess board (Bottom right corner for both players must be a light square):

  White on the right

• Philidor vs Lucena:

  Philidor position is a drawing technique. Both words have a "d" (for draw).
  Lucena is a winning position. Neither word has a "d".

Misc

• Confronting a screw:

  Righty-tighty, Lefty-loosy or Right on, Left off

• Identifying coral snakes:

  Red touches yellow, kills a fellow. Red touches black, friend of Jack.

• The first 11 (and most important) Ionian philosophers (Thales, Heraclitus, Empedocles, Leucippus, Anaximander, Democritus, Zeno, Anaximenes, Protagoras, Parmenides, Anaxagoras):

  THE LAD ZAPPA

• Daylight savings time:

  spring forward, fall back