You have learned and practised all the math formulas throughout the whole semester. You have understood them very well too. Still, you forget them the day right before the exam?

Don’t panic. It is quite a normal thing that happens to almost every student.

When you learn the math formulas and practice them in class the whole semester, you study other subjects for different courses too. You may attend the math class right after a lecture on literature. So, your brain handles and processes so many things.

With all that processing, it is nearly impossible that you will remember each and every math formula right before the exam.

To memorize them effectively enough to attend to and solve all the math problems and answer all the questions to ensure a better grade, you have to put in effort before your exam starts.

Here are six steps you can follow to memorize the math formulas when exams are just around the corner.

6 Steps To Memorize The Math Formulas

Before going into the steps, keep in mind that you have to be consistent and motivated about learning them. Only then will you be able to memorize them properly and apply them.  

So, here are the steps discussed chronologically, where you will also learn to decode the formulas, how to use flashcards for studying, and why you need to understand them.  

Write The Formulas

Writing something down helps you far better than just reading it when you need to memorize something.

Therefore, whenever you are sitting for studying and practising math formulas and solving the problems, the first thing you should be doing is listing all the formulas that you have learned all semester.

Some of them may not be as important as the others, or they are not meant to appear in the exam. But each small or complicated formula is connected to the others, which will help you to understand them.

Moreover, writing them like a list will also organize them and bring them onto one page where you will easily find them. So, simply copy and paste all of them onto a fresh page from your class notebook or study materials at first.     

Use Flashcard Tool

You will find some math formulas that are more complicated to remember than the other ones. And some math equations that you are sure will be given in the exam, or that you will definitely need to solve a particular problem.

You must work on these formulas to remember them effectively. For them, you can use an AI flashcard or note-taking tool, especially before the series of exams coming.   

These AI tools will save you from repetitively writing them and looking at them to memorize. These kinds of tools generate flashcards with the formulas or the information you put into them and make them appear on your screen repeatedly after a certain time.  

All you have to do is pick the most difficult ones from the list you wrote manually, get into the tool or the platform, go to the create flashcard or sticky note option, and provide all the formulas in the given box.

The tool will automatically generate impactful flashcards and make them pop up on your screen with a reminder to see them, helping you see them and retain them in your brain even when you are not sitting for studying.  

Understand The Logistics

Now that you are ready with the list of all the mathematics equations and formulas, and have ensured that you will remember to memorize them, you have to use your critical thinking to understand them.

To memorize the formulas well for a longer period of time, you have to understand the logic and reasoning behind them. Also, it is better to know where the formulas came from and how they were formed.  

Take the example of the Pythagorean theorem: a² + b² = c². The equation applies to a right-angled, or ninety-degree, triangle, according to which the sum of the squares of two smaller sides is equal to the square of the hypotenuse, or the largest side of the triangle.

It basically means that if you draw squares on the two shorter sides of a right-angled triangle, represented by “a” and “b”, the combined area of those two squares will equal the area of the square drawn on the longest side, the hypotenuse,c.

Once you get into the core of the formula like this, you will be at the top of your game. So, do not only read and remember the equation. Rather, try to imagine the practical scenario with the formula. It will help you with longer retention.  

Decode Each Variable

Whenever you are learning a formula, always decode each variable and symbol and understand what it represents, just like the Pythagorean formula, where c represents the largest side of the triangle and the other two refer to the smaller sides.

This tactic is a must when you are solving a physics mathematics problem where you must know which symbol is used for velocity or speed, weight or mass, time, distance, energy, power, and hundreds of other things.

In each equation, the symbol may differ. So, it is better to note what the symbols refer to when you are listing them.

Apply The Formulas

Do not expect that you will remember all of them during the exam only by learning and understanding the formulas.

To clearly memorize them before the exam and excel in the exam, you have to apply them to a real mathematical problem and solve it.

It is better to work on multiple math questions with each formula to be ready for a different math problem or an exceptional one that may appear in the exam.

So, whenever you learn the formulas, always apply them to more than one mathematical question and solve them for better retention for a longer period of time.

Final Thought

Mathematics may seem the most difficult subject among all your courses. But it might become one of the easiest ones for you if you can get all of your formulas and be able to solve the equations with them.

You will certainly be able to memorize all your important formulas if you follow the steps discussed above.   

However, you have to remember the fact that you will not memorize all of the formulas by practising the steps overnight. So, start working on them earlier, instead of sitting for them at the eleventh hour.