Mnemonics

For lists

• Mnemonics for spelling mnemonic include "memory needs every method of nurturing its capacity".
• To memorize the metric prefixes after giga, think of the candy, and this mnemonic. "Tangiest Pez? Yellow!" TPEZY: tera, peta, exa, zetta, yotta.
• The order of sharps in key signature notation is F, C, G, D, A, E and B, giving the mnemonic "Father Charles goes down and ends battle". The order of flats is the reverse: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭ and F♭ ("Battle ends and down goes Charles's father").
• The colours of the rainbow are ordered in "Richard of York gave battle in vain" or the fictional name "Roy G. Biv" (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet).
• The acronym HOMES for the North American Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior
• Electronic colour codes are remembered with a wide range of mnemonic phrases, owing to multiple colours beginning with b and g and shifts from sexist phrases once common in traditionally male-dominated professions.
• For effects of an inductor or capacitor in alternating current circuits, the phrase "Eli the iceman" or "Eli on ice" has been used by electrical engineers. With an inductor present (the symbol L indicating inductance), the peak value of voltage (E) precedes the peak value of the current (I), so E precedes I in "Eli". With a capacitor present (the symbol C indicating capacitance), the peak current leads the peak voltage, with I leading E when C is present in "ice". Another common mnemonic is "civil": in a capacitor (C) current (I) leads voltage (V), while voltage leads current in a inductor (L).
• For redox chemical reactions, where oxidation and reduction can be confused, the phrase "Leo says ger" (lose electron oxidation, gain electron reduction) or acronym "oil rig" (oxidation is losing, reduction is gaining) can be used.
• Planetary mnemonics include: "My very educated mother just served us nachos" or "my very easy method just speeds up naming planets" (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, [Pluto]).
• The sequence of stellar classification: "Oh, be a fine girl [or guy], kiss me!" – where O, B, A, F, G, K, M are categories of stars.
• For the layers of the OSI Model: "Please do not teach students pointless acronyms" (physical, data link, network, transport, session, presentation, application).
• Taxonomy mnemonics include "Do kings play chess on funny glass stairs?" and "Do kindly please come over for green soup." (domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species)
• For diatomic elements: BrINClHOF (pronounced 'brinkelhoff') or "have no fear of ice cold beer".
• For adjective order in English grammar: OPSHACOM (opinion, shape, age, colour, origin, material).
• For the British English spelling of diarrhoea: "Dash in a real rush! Hurry, or else accident!"
• For the parts of the brain associated with memory: "herds of animals cause panic" (hippocampus, amygdala, cerebellum, prefrontal cortex)
• For types of memory encoding: SAVE (semantic, acoustic, and visual encoding)
• For parts of the digestive system: "mother eats squirrel guts because she is living in rural Arkansas" (mouth, esophagus, stomach, gall bladder, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, anus)