This is topic How do you remember boring mathematical formulas? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-29-2003, 02:49 AM:
 
Well, seems as though I had problems with advanced mathematics in high school. I could never remember the rules in Geometry, and mathematic formulas.

But when I graduated from high school in Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1958, I immediately joined the US Navy for electronics training, and eventually served honorably for 20 years and retired.

When I went through the electronics school training, the "dirty mines" of the instructors (eventually I became one to teach vacuum tube theory and the entire radar set AN/APG-51B Radar used in the F3H-2 aircraft,) I remember how to keep formulas in my head. Here is an example:



How do you remember formulas? I hope for lots of replys, as my mind is getting feeble, and I still want to remember things so I don't become too obsolete.
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 03-29-2003, 03:09 AM:
 
How about the resistor color code:

"Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly".

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

And of course, who could forget "ELI the ICE" man? As related to inductors and capacitors...

The voltage (E) leads the current (I) in an inductor (L), and the current (I) leads the voltage (E) in a capacitor (C).

OBTW Paul, I used to have a pet frog named "Feeble", but he croaked!

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 03-29-2003, 03:48 AM:
 
Paul -- we learned that as "an old indian name" ... SOHCAHTOA ... it worked for me.

There was one for memorizing the periodic table in chemistry...something about "Herman Lies, Never Kills..." something like that, I don't remember it now.

Colors of the rainbow, in order -- a nice chap named ROY G BIV -- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo (so often forgotten or ignored) and violet

and then there's stuff that's just drilled into you...

two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun!

the night-time, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, you you can rest medicine

yellow and blue make green!
 

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 03-29-2003, 04:43 AM:
 
When I studied photography at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, we had to know the complementary colors in order to learn how to make dye transfer prints as well as standard color prints from negaives.

These are the primary & secondary colors and how I rememberd them by using word association-----

CYAN/RED C R ayon

MAJENTA/GREEN M u G

YELLOW/BLUE Y ellow B ird

-Claude
 

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Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 03-29-2003, 10:16 AM:
 
Oh Be A Fine Girl Kiss Me

Mnemonic Devices

Forget Knot
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 03-29-2003, 12:00 PM:
 
I learned the Quadratic Formula to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" in High School!

X eq-uals neg-at-ive B plus or min-us the square root of,
B squared minus 4ac, de-vi-ded-by-2a!

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 03-29-2003, 01:46 PM:
 
I don't get it.

The syllables don't correspond. Maybe I'm thinking of a different version of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" ?

Thomas: you may need to upload a scan of sheet music for that one.
 

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Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 03-29-2003, 02:07 PM:
 
I see it. Just sound it out slow Manny. It jumbles a couple words together on the top line and spreads them out on the bottom line but you can get the tune...sing it out loud.
 

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Posted by Don Bruechert (Member # 1538) on 03-29-2003, 03:18 PM:
 
I use word association for things, but learned the resistor color code the same way... I am quite good at remembering stupid crap I don't need to know, like license plate numbers, but can't remember the important stuff.... How about PIE for electrical power calculations... P = I * E and you draw it like a pie so the division works out normally....
 

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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 03-29-2003, 03:49 PM:
 
My sister bought into a system for memorizing numbers where each number represented certain basic consonant sounds, some of which are related.

1 = T or D (think of the middle line in the capital "t" and that looks like a "1"...the letter "D" is the same sound as "T" without the added vocalization. That is, your lips and tongue behave the same.)

2 = N (think of the two legs on a lowercase "n" and that helps you associate it with the number "2")

3 = M (you guessed right...3 legs on a lowercase "m"...also think of the 3M company)

4 = R (why? well...fouR, of course!)

5 = L (hold up your left hand with all "5" fingers spread out. Your index and thumb look like the letter "L")

6 = G (soft) or J (a "6" kind-of looks like a "G" ... "J" is the same sound).

7 = K or (hard) C or (hard) G (you have to imagine the leg of the number "7" as the left edge of a letter "K" ... hard "C" and "G" are back-of-the-throat sounds, very similar to "K")

8 = P or B (the "8" looks like a capital "B" and the letter "P" is essentially the same sound without the added vocalization)

9 = V or F (I don't know why, just memorize it...how many clues do you need anyway? What are you? Some kind of moron?)

0 = S or (soft) C

The vowel sounds are your wild-cards.

This way the number 12 could be "read" or memorized as "tune" and "diamond" would be 1321.

"Tunes" would be 120 and "diamonds" would be 13210.

Have fun!
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 03-29-2003, 07:53 PM:
 
Oh yeah. Stupid stuff is easy to remember! The McDonalds Menu Song from 1989, the sound pattern that the Press Your Luck board makes, the fact that "A Man A Plan A Canal Panama" is the longest known palindrome, the fact that you can use a potato to dislodge the metal part still stuck in the light socket... all easy to remember.

Formulas on the other hand, who needs 'em!

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 03-29-2003, 08:13 PM:
 
Make sure the circuit is off... A potato is "wet" and while not a perfect conductor, it still will give ya a jolt...and I don't mean cola!

And Manny: JFC! That is SOOOOOOO confusing! I'd rather speak/listen to "Authentic Western Gibberish! I mean, who could argue with that?

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Gunnar Johansson (Member # 1661) on 03-31-2003, 11:00 AM:
 
You study hard and memerize. Then you apply it over and over again until you know it by heart. If you don´t know it by heart you know how to arrive at it, i.e. you learn some of the really basic forumlas, and how to derive the others from that one. Or you make sure that you know where to look it up (Beta or Physics, dictionaries for formulas), unfortunately that wont work for exams.
Those are the only tricks I know to get it all in my head. When I was in the States for a year I too learned SOHCAHTOA (sine=opposite/hypothenuse ...) but I already knew those by heart.
THe other trick is to familiarize your self with it all so it bevomes a second nature, and you do it without (almost) thinking, allowing you to almost see the solutions and how to get there without having to do all the calculations...
OTOH, if you don´t plan to make it your career, like me, looking it up probably works for most people...
I know most of the mnemonic devices posted here, but usually had to learn them first anyway... Maybe I´ll find some things for the knowledge to come...

//Gunnar, studying for a Master of Science and Engineering in Engineering Physics, where math is not you second nature, it´s your first...
 

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Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 04-02-2003, 10:22 AM:
 
Wow. I'm surprised I didn't read this thread earlier.

First off, math formulas are not boring!

Manny outlined a system for associating number with latters. I've had a scheme for this for a long time. Here is the "short form", in which letters are directly encoded as digits.

0 = A
1 = E
2 = I
3 = O
4 = U

(that's easy -- the vowels are 0 - 4)

5 = s z f
6 = w y
7 = r
8 = h
9 = g j
A = reserved (currently not used)
B = b p v
C = c k q x
D = d t
E = l
F = m n

53, D825 51FD1FC1 634ED B1 672DD1F E2C1 D825.

It's a nice 15-character alphabet, and is used for words that don't have trivial codes in the system that I discussed on the thread about IM abbreviations and shorthands. This encoding converts any word to a hexadecimal integer value, and words that sound very alike often end up with the same code!

There is a long form of this code that encodes each phonetic sound in the pronunciation in the word as a 2-digit code, which would be great for a speech program. The phonetic encoding code was first developed in 1980 and modified in 1994 when I wanted it changed to characters that were typable on a keyboard. The old system had all sorts of stange special characters.

As for memorizing math formulas, two that come to mind are the formulas for derivatives of sums and products:

Derivative of Hi Ho = Ho D Hi plus Hi D Ho

Derivative of Hi/Ho = Ho D Hi minus Hi D Ho, over Ho Ho.

That's the way I was taught them and the way I remember them.
 

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Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 04-02-2003, 06:45 PM:
 
Lets talk about the Machine Tool Trade.

In machine tool, there are several issues. Number 1, memeroizing math formulas is a no-no...as it can lead to an accidental error. So, the Machinist usually/always has a copy of the Machinists Ready Reference on hand. Machine tool is all Trig, and the Cartesian Coordinate System. The secret is being able to take a potential clients half-assed inception written on a paper napkin whith half assed dimensions and figuring out how to break everything down into right or acute angles so as to be able to complet the trig for the unknown dimensions.

YOU DO NOT NEED A FANCY CALCULATOR! The Texas Instruments TI 36 (battery or solar versions) about $35.00 or so will do everything that you will need in the shop, and I rely on mine every day! When customers are paying major $$ per hr, then efficiency is very important, and this is where a calculator is vital! But one must alway double check ones work !

Breaking everything down into right or acute angles is the easiest way to go, and all the formulas that you need are in the Ready Reference. For the most part, you can do everything by just using Sine, Cosine and Tangent. For the most part, the rest is practically unnecessary. But there are rare occasions when one does need to rely on math for obtuse angles to solve a dimension problem.

However, by doing math every day, the formulas do become second nature.

OH, AH, OHAH for Sine, Cosine, Tangent.

The secret to math is doing it every day. if one is taking a math program for a college degree, then do math every day, as it does not take long to forget and get rusty! Also, During vacation and summer time, still review your math for the next semester! And once you begin your math program (requirements) just keep progressing and do not skip a semester, as you will be sorry!
 

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Posted by Robb Johnston (Member # 239) on 04-05-2003, 08:03 PM:
 
High school physics was a long time ago, but I still remember some of the formulas by the puns Mr. Sweeney used.

for example, how do you get power? Work overtime Think about it
 

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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 08-19-2003, 02:34 PM:
 
Digging through some old stuff, I ran across this alternate mnemonic for the resistor color code:

Bad Beer Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well

For navigation:

East is Least, West is Best
(Magnetic variation on headings/courses: subtract east variation, add west)

True Virgins Make Dull Company
True Course +/- Variation = Magnetic Course +/- Deviation = Compass Course

[ 11-02-2003, 12:30 PM: Message edited by: Paul Mayer ]
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 08-23-2003, 02:49 PM:
 
How many times have you've seen a guy sitting there, counting on his fingers, saying "Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls..."? It was easiest for me to just learn the code, it only takes a couple days.

Ya just take three colors, and every time during the day that you see that color, you think of the corresponding number. I started with black, brown, and red. Every time I saw something brown, I'd think "1". A wooden door... 1! A pencil... 1! Anything red, I'd think "2". A ribbon... 2! An ambulance light... 2! The next day, do three more colors.

In just a few days, you know the code by sight. Easy!

More mnemonics. For Cinematography:
F.A.S.T. =

Focus
Aperture
Shutter
Tach
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 08-23-2003, 05:48 PM:
 
For me, the color code is automatic. If I see a resistor that has yellow-violet-orange bands, I just see it as a 47k resistor without thinking about it.

Same goes for the Morse code.... I don't hear the tones as such but automatically the letters, etc. If the code is too slow, then I have to stop and think about it. Weird.

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 08-23-2003, 06:27 PM:
 
Yep, Morse code is like that. Once you get around 18-20 wpm, you start hearing words more than individual characters.
If you have to stop and say, "Wait... dah-di-dit... dit... hummm.." you'll be there all day.

-
-.
-..-

..-.
.
.-.

--.-
...
---

--...
...--
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 08-23-2003, 06:43 PM:
 
73's back to you OM.

>>> Phil
 

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