# How to learn periodic table abbreviations quickly???



## CAT13 (Sep 8, 2008)

I need to learn the first 50 or so abbreviations of the periodic table by tomorrow for school. So does anyone have a good way of learning them all? preferably quickly. I don't feel like searching site after site looking for a way to memorize them and I have a lot of other homework. Thanks


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## ShadenSmith (Sep 8, 2008)

A, U! Get off my gold!

Ahh, G! It's just silver.


Just learn the weird ones with a phrase or something. Most of them are really easy, only a few weird ones (like gold and silver)


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## tim (Sep 8, 2008)

Make words out of the abbreviations and try to create a story out of your words.

You're sitting in your house(H) and drinking a Coke(C)...

For the two letter abbreviations: Either create two words or one compound one.


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## TurbulentTurtle (Sep 9, 2008)

You-you-you, took my Unununium!


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## fanwuq (Sep 9, 2008)

Ha! we don't have to learn memo anything for AP chemistry.


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## bearit (Sep 9, 2008)

I learned mine 50 minutes before the test. Go through flashcards, and come up with phrases, over and over.


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## pcharles93 (Sep 9, 2008)

Rote!! Seriously, you don't have to fiddle with memo schemes or long convulated stories. Plus, you only have to commit a few of them to memory. Like the weird ones. Pb is lead. Au is Aurum which is latin for gold. If you read the Inheritance trilogy, then you'd know Arget(Ag) is silver. It's really easy if you think of this kind of stuff.


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## hawkmp4 (Sep 9, 2008)

Yeah, memorizing ions (especially 120 complex ions) is much more difficult. Have faith in yourself, just seeing the elements a lot will be enough.


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## Crzyazn (Sep 9, 2008)

Associating elements with some of their unique properties also helps.....


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## cmhardw (Sep 9, 2008)

CAT13 said:


> I need to learn the first 50 or so abbreviations of the periodic table by tomorrow for school. So does anyone have a good way of learning them all? preferably quickly. I don't feel like searching site after site looking for a way to memorize them and I have a lot of other homework. Thanks



Um... start studying sooner than the night before? Or if your teacher assigned all this for one night's homework then try some visual associations. Try to picture where the element is roughly on *your* periodic table. Not *the* periodic table, but the specific one you use. Is there a tear in the corner, or a smudge near one element? Is it laminated? Does the light always catch your eye when looking at one of the elements. Associate this light flash with that element, etc.

Just some ideas. I always sucked at chemistry, so for what's it's worth.

Chris


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## darkzelkova (Sep 9, 2008)

Just flash card it. Forever. Make up sayings, do whatever, but flash card it. After long enough you'll get it.


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## shelley (Sep 9, 2008)

fanwuq said:


> Ha! we don't have to learn memo anything for AP chemistry.



That was very helpful.

Since this was posted yesterday this might be too late for you now, but when I have a lot of things to memorize I just print out a page of them and brute force it. Bring it with you on the bus, at lunch time, whenever you have free time. Flash cards help a lot too, especially with the ones you have trouble with. Since atomic symbols are mostly the first one or two letters of the element name, most of them should be pretty easy anyway.


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## CAT13 (Sep 9, 2008)

cmhardw said:


> Um... start studying sooner than the night before?
> Chris



I would have done that, but I just joined the chemistry class yesterday. Whoever assembled my schedule thought that it would be funny to mess it all up and put me in physical science and give me back to back study halls and stuff like that.

anyway... I got an 83%. boo.
Now I need to start learning the ions.  what fun
And I have no memorization skills whatsoever. even funner


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