How to Memorize Periodic Table
Need to know how to memorize the Periodic Table. There are 180 elements in the Periodic Table and I can teach you an easy way to memorize all of them.
Create pictures for the elements. Your mind remembers a picture rather than a word. Most of us always say “I am so good with faces, I just can’t think of your name.” The reason is because we saw the face but we only heard the name. If you only hear the name the odds of you remembering it significantly decrease. To successfully memorize the periodic table you need to create pictures. Here are some of my pictures for a few of the elements:
Hydrogen -someone is waving ‘HI’
Helium – a balloon floating up in the air.
Lithium – a battery.
Beryllium – a bear, a big grizzly bear.
Boron – a BOARD and placing it ON something.
Carbon – driving a car.
Nitrogen – A knight swinging his sword.
Oxygen – Breathing from an oxygen mask.
Fluorine – Flooring, maybe carpet or tile
For the 1st step create a picture that will help you remember the element. Pick something that relates to the element or that may sound like or similar to the element.
Create a place to store the information. Let’s use the Mind Palace technique. The idea is to memorize a map of a familiar place, like your home. In reality you already have your home memorized, so all I’m asking is for you to number pieces of your furniture. Go to every doorway of your home and number 5 pieces in each room. Start with number 1 and work your way up until you have enough pieces of furniture needed for what you are wanting to remember. Number things such as beds, desks, TVs, refrigerators, stoves, microwaves, books, and lamps. Make sure they are big items and spread them throughout the room. This is constructing your own Mind Palace.
Lastly put step one and step two together. Take your pictures you’ve chosen for the elements and start tying them to your pieces of furniture. For example, on your first piece of furniture you see someone waving and saying hello. As you wave back you notice a balloon floating up in the air with a battery tied to it. This creates a story that helps you remember the first three elements; Hydrogen, Helium, and Lithium. On your second piece of furniture imagine seeing a bear setting a board on top of a car; Beryllium, Boron, and Carbon. On the third piece of furniture imagine a knight wearing an oxygen mask while walking on flooring; Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Fluorine.
If you store 3 elements per piece of furniture, you will only need about 40 pieces for all 118 elements. Do you want to also remember the symbol and atomic weight along with the element? For this, I would use about 118 pieces of furniture because you will need a picture to remember the symbol and atomic weight along with the element on one piece of furniture. What if you want to group them such as Halogens, Noble Gases, or the Alkali Metals? Simply group those elements in a room or a series of rooms so that when you are recalling these elements all you have to do is go to that room or rooms for the group you are wanting.
For more ways on how to memorize the periodic table click on the link below: