| DelteusThe73rd | November 11, 2013 08:13 PM | Print out a copy of the periodic table. This will be your Bible for the next couple of weeks. Wherever you go, it will go with you. It's advisable to print out more than one copy. You can highlight and code one however you want and use the next to start over or check if your devices have worked.
Print out a copy. Then, especially if you're a visual or kinesthetic learner, copy it down yourself. It's easier to know the ins and outs of something you've done yourself; the chart will seem less foreign if it's made by you.
Breakdown the table into smaller sections to learn it. Most charts are already divided by color and type of element, but if that's not working for you, find your own way. You could go by row, column, atomic weight, or simply easiest to hardest. Find patterns that stick out to you.
Zap into your free time. Try learning the periodic table when not much else can be done, e.g. traveling by public transport or just waiting in the line for something. If you don't have the chart handy (which you should), go over it in your head, concentrating on the ones that are eluding your memory.
Stick with it! Learn a few every day and always review the old ones! If you don't review and quiz yourself, you will forget.
Create associations. For each element, memorize a short slogan, story or fact that is related to the metal you need to memorize the symbol for. For example, Argentina was named after the metal silver (Argentum -- Ag) because when the Spanish landed there, they thought that the country had lots of silver.
Sometimes, you might make something funny to remember the element -- for example," 'EY! YOU! Give me back my GOLD!" could help as well since the symbol for gold is Au.
Go for mnemonic devices. That means you'll be using words to associate with each element. They often come in strings or rhymes. LIlly's NAna Kills RuBbish CreatureS FRanticly is an example of a mnemonic device to help remember the alkali metals.
Ignore the easy ones. You're probably pretty confident that hydrogen is "H." Concentrate on the ones that are giving you grief. Here's an example: Darmstadtium is "Ds," right? If you want a mnemonic for that one, try "DARN! STATS for my game were all lost on my Nintendo 'DS' because the power went out!".
Use pictures. Many people with ridiculously good memories use pictures to associate. Why does everybody know that A is for Apple? Our brains associate words with pictures automatically. Assign each element with a picture -- anything that makes sense to you.
Give the items in your house an element. Label them. Let's say your chair is hydrogen. Label it with a hydrogen bomb, picturing it blowing up. Give your TV a mouth -- it's oxygen and it's breathing. When you go to take your test, close your eyes and walk through your house, recalling all your associations. |