The school subject math is never usually brought up, but when it does, it is always talked about in such a negative light. Most of the people that I meet, which includes parents and kids, always express to me their dislike and hatred for math. I am writing this in hope to change people’s perception about math and to think of math as a fun subject. Math should not be viewed as a burden, but almost as a puzzle. Math is not all that bad and with these five math mnemonics they will be sure to change your life and hopefully make it easier as well.
1. 1 mile = 5,280 feet
An easy way to remember what one mile is equivalent to in feet is remembering the small phrase: five tomatoes. Now you might think how on earth is a mile equivalent to five tomatoes? Well, when sounded out, it is five-two-eight-o, or 5,280. That’s right, a mile corresponds to 5,280 feet.
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2. Multiplying by 25’s
An easy way to remember the multiples of 25 would be to think of 25’s as quarters. A quarter is worth twenty-five cents and four quarters would be a dollar which can be thought of as one hundred. For instance, 6 * 25 can be perceived as having 6 quarters which is a dollar and fifty cents, but if you take out the decimal, you get one hundred and fifty.
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3. Complementary angles add up to 90 degrees
This is probably my favorite mnemonic that I thought of while taking geometry freshman year of high school. The way to remember the difference between complimentary angles versus supplementary angles is first you have to know that one will add up to 180 degrees while the other 90 degrees. The way to remember that complementary angles are angles that equal to 90 degrees is when you compliment someone, it is the RIGHT thing to do, and right angles are 90 degrees. This then leaves you with 180 degrees and the only option to match it up with are supplementary angles.
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4. Multiplying by 9’s
A fast and efficient way to remember your timetables that deal with 9 would be using your fingers. The only issue with this, is that this method only works up to ten. Let’s say that we are asked to multiply 9 and 4. You would count, starting from your left hand, to the fourth finger. You would then drop that finger which is your index finger. Next, think of it as a divider, which leaves you with 3 to the left of the divider and 6 to the right of the divider and when put together, the two gives you 36 which is the product of 9 and 4. Don’t believe me? Let’s try 9 * 9. Again, you would start from the left hand and count nine fingers, which then stops on the ring finger on the right hand which you would then drop. This leaves you with 8 to the left of the divider and 1 to the right of the divider and when put together, gives you 81, which is what 9 * 9 is.
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5. Pi = 3.1415926
Pi as we know it, is an irrational number that is used when dealing with circles. Its digits after the decimal point go on forever and by forever, I mean over 22 trillion, but the good thing is in school, it is not necessary to know more than 3+ digits of pi, but to really impress your friends and family, this mnemonic will help you remember the first eight digits of pi. An easy way to remember the first eight digits would be to remember the phrase: may I have a large container of coffee. May has three letters, which represents 3 and then there would be a decimal and I would be 1 and have would be 4 and so on and so forth.
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With these fun math mnemonics, you will find that you will not be struggling and wasting your time trying to remember what your teacher said in class. Instead you will be zooming through your tests with confidence. Definitely do share these so the future generations do not have a hard time when doing math and so that they can be passed on forever!