We got owned / Memorization Problems

Vince destroyed us yesterday. Although we seemed to double him whenever he had the ball he managed to break free and put up big numbers. The raps suck. Here was the most anticipated game of the season and the raps came out with little to no energy in the second half. I admit that Jalen can be clutch but he needs to pass the ball if things aren't working for him. And Rafer has got to cut out those pull up 3s if he can't hit them. The only bright spot was some solid play by Pop So (or whatever the spelling is). It was great to see him alongside bonner in the front court actually holding their own and doing some damage. They better make some big changes in the off season and get some support for CB4.

Now onto memorization problems.
So, if you ask a typical nano these days if they understand something in materials chem you'll get the line

"Not really, I'm just gonna memorize, that's all you need to do"

I agree 100%, and I'm sure I've even said that line.. BUT.. there are different levels of memorization.

1) Understanding and hence minimizing the amount of memorization to be done. Eg. the molecule is in a tetrahedral shape, with the pz orbitals overlapping dz^2. The dz^2 and pz are below the other orbtitals on the MO diagram and are filled with space between them and the other orbitals. Creating a large bandgap and hence an insulator.
OR
Since the molecule is tetrahedrally shaped we have overlap on the z-axis. The orbtals in this direction will have lower energy than the other directions. Therefore, lower in energy than other orbitals creating a bandgap on the MO diagram.

The second method entails VERY LITTLE memorization, perhaps only that of the shape of the molecule.

Understanding... ANY sort of memorization does help.... Try memorizing a bunch of slides in the very piecewise manner described in the first case and you'll go crazy.

2) if understanding can't happen you can turn to the acronyms. Another sure fire way to make you go crazy. I find it helps to develop acronyms that may relate to weird or interesting stuff, it'll go a long way in helping you tap into some otherwise vaccant memory space.

For instance, I STILL KNOW the charater of rights of canada I learned in grade 11 because of a good acronym.

MOM FED AL

Mobility rights
Offical languages
Minority rights
Fundamental freedoms
Equality rights
Democratic rights
Aborginal rights
Legal rights

okay.. I admit I looked up a few of them, but you get the idea.

that's all for today. have fun memorizing and if you come up with a killer acronym please let me know!