List of mnemonics
This article contains list of notable mnemonics used to remember various objects, lists, etc.
Astronomy
- Order of planets from the Sun:
- Stellar classification sequence: O B A F G K M R N S
- Revised stellar classification sequence: O B A F G K M L T Y
Biology
- To remember the order of taxa in biology :
- *"Dear King Philip Came Over For Good Soup" is often cited as a non-vulgar method for teaching students to memorize the taxonomic classification system. Other variations tend to start with the mythical king, with one author noting "The nonsense about King Philip, or some ribald version of it, has been memorized by generations of biology students".
- *Do Kings Play Chess On Fine Green Silk?
- *Dumb Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried Green Spinach
- *Do Kindly Place Cover On Fresh Green Spring Vegetables
- *Damn Kernel Panics Crash Our Family Game System
- To remember the processes that define living things:
- * MRS GREN: Movement; Respiration; Sensation; Growth; Reproduction; Excretion; Nutrition
- To remember the number of humps on types of camels:
- * D in Dromedary has one hump; B in Bactrian has two
- To distinguish color patterns between the harmless kingsnake and the venomous coral snake
- * Red next to black will not kill a jack. Red next to yellow will kill a fellow.
Chemistry
Engineering
- For the EIA electronic color code, Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Gray, White, Gold, Silver, None
- A mnemonic to remember which way to turn common screws and nuts, including light bulbs, is "Righty-tighty, Lefty-loosey"; another is "Right on, Left off".
- For power in watts: Twinkle twinkle little star, Power equals I squared R.
Geography
- The countries of South America in order of largest to smallest by area: Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile, Paraguay, Ecuador, Guyana, Uruguay, Suriname
- The countries of Central America from North to South: Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama
- The Great Lakes in order of largest to smallest: Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, Ontario
- Or just to remember them at all
- The principal factors affecting climate: LABDOWA
Geology
- Geological periods: Precambrian, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Recent
- Mohs scale of mineral hardness 1-10:
- Differentiating stalactites from stalagmites.
- *The 'mites go up and the 'tites come down. When one has ants in one's pants, the mites go up and the tights come down.
- *Stalactites hang tight, hang down like tights on a line; stalagmites might bite, might reach the roof.
- *Tights hang from the Ceiling, and Mites crawling around on the Ground
- *You need might to do push-ups. You must hold tight doing chin-ups.
- *Stalactites are on the ceiling. Stalagmites are on the ground.
- *Stalactites cling tight to the ceiling; stalagmites might reach the ceiling.
History
- Chinese dynasties : Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Jin, Southern and Northern, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing
- English dynasties : Norman, Plantagenet, Lancaster, York, Tudor, Stuart, Hanover, Windsor
- Wives of Henry VIII : Aragon, Boleyn, Seymour, Cleves, Howard, Parr
- Wives of Henry VIII : Divorced, beheaded, died / Divorced, beheaded, survived.
- British nobility rank order : Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Barons
- Assassinated US presidents and perpetrators: Lincoln by Booth, Garfield by Guiteau, McKinley by Czolgosz and Kennedy by Oswald.
Languages
Characteristic sequence of letters
- I always comes before E
But this is not always obeyed as in case of weird and weigh, weight, height, neighbor etc. and can be remembered by extending that mnemonic as given below
Another variant, which avoids confusion when the two letters represent different sounds instead of a single sound, as in atheist or being, runs
- Where ever there is a Q there is a U too
Letters of specific syllables in a word
- BELIEVE
- SECRETARY
- TEACHER
- MEASUREMENT
- FRIEND
- SPECIAL
- BEAUTIFUL
- SEPARATE
- CEMETERY
- PRINCIPAL
Distinguishing between similar words
- Difference between Advice & Advise, Practice & Practise, Licence & License etc.
- Here or Hear
- Complement and Compliment
- Principle and Principal
- Remedial and Menial
- Their, There and They're
- Stationary and stationery
First letter mnemonics of spelling
- DIARRHEA
- ARITHMETIC
- NECESSARY
- BECAUSE
- MNEMONICS
- GEOGRAPHY
- TOMORROW
- RHYTHM
Grammar
- Adjective order in English: OSASCOMP
- *On Saturday And Sunday Cold Ovens Make Pastry
- Commonly-used coordinating conjunctions in English: FANBOYS
- *For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So
- The verbs in French that use the auxiliary verb être in the compound past can be memorized using the phrase "Dr. Mrs. Vandertramp":
Mathematics
Quadratic equation
The articulation of the quadratic equation can be sung to the tune of various songs as a mnemonic device.Mathematical operations
For helping students in remembering the rules in adding and multiplying two signed numbers, Balbuena and Buayan made the letter strategies LAUS and LPUN, respectively.Order of Operations
PEMDAS
Please - Parenthesis
Excuse - Exponents
My - Multiplication
Dear - Division
Aunt - Addition
Sally - Subtraction
Trigonometry
The mnemonic "SOHCAHTOA" is often used to remember the basic trigonometric functions:- Sine = Opposite / Hypotenuse
- Cosine = Adjacent / Hypotenuse
- Tangent = Opposite / Adjacent
Some Old Hippie
Caught Another Hippie
Tripping On Acid.
Ships Of Holland Call At Harwich To Obtain Apples.
Sighs Of Happiness Come After Having Tankards Of Ale.
Medicine
- To remember the signs of a stroke:
- * FAST
- ** Face
- ** Arms
- ** Speech
- ** Time
- To remember the steps for Resuscitation:
- * D.R.S. A.B.C.D
- ** Danger
- ** Response
- ** Send for help
- ** Airway
- ** Breaths
- ** CPR
- ** Defib
- To remember the 10 organ systems of the human body:
- * NICER DRUMS
- Intrinsic muscles of hand
Thenar :
Abductor pollicis brevis
Opponens pollicis
Flexor pollicis brevis
Adductor pollicis
Hypothenar :
Opponens digiti minimi
Flexor digiti minimi
Abductor digiti minimi
- Bones of the wrist:
- Differential Diagnosis
- Cranial nerves
Music
Guitar
- Mnemonics are also used in remembering guitar string names in standard tuning.
Conversely, a mnemonic listing the strings in the reverse order is:
Ukulele
As for guitar tuning, there is also a mnemonic for ukuleles.Reading music
- Musicians can remember the notes associated with the five lines of the treble clef using any of the following mnemonics, EGBDF: '
- The four spaces of the treble clef spell out FACE and can be remembered as FACE fits in the space'''
- The five lines of the bass clef from the bottom to the top
- The four spaces of the bass clef from the bottom to the top
- The five lines of the alto clef from the bottom to the top
- The four spaces of the alto clef from the bottom to the top
- The order of sharps in key signature notation is F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯, which can be remembered using the phrase
- The order of flats is B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, and F♭, which can be remembered using the phrase:
Philosophy
- THE LAD ZAPPA is a mnemonic for the first 11 Ionian philosophers: Thales, Heraclitus, Empedocles, Leucippus, Anaximander, Democritus, Zeno, Anaximenes, Protagoras, Parmenides, Anaxagoras.
- THE PLAZA PAD is another mnemonic for the first 11 Ionian philosophers: Thales, Heraclitus, Empedocles, Protagoras, Leucippus, Anaximander, Zeno, Anaximenes, Parmenides, Anaxagoras, Democritus.
Physics
- Sequence of colors in a rainbow or visible spectrum :
Transportation
- Marine
- Aviation uses many mnemonics in addition to written checklists. See also Category: :Category:Aviation mnemonics|Aviation mnemonics
Units of measure
- Common SI prefixes: