LIST: MCAT mnemonics and memory aids!

for the hormones secreted by the anterior pituitary gland

FLAT PIG

F- FSH
L- LH
A- ACTH
T- TSH

P- Prolactin
I - (ignore)
G- GH

Have at it!



Biology

Anterior Pituitary Hormones
"FLAGTOP"

F: Follicle Stimulating Hormone
L: Luteinizing Hormone
A: ACTH
G: Growth Hormone
T: Thyroid Stimulating Hormone
O: MSH - melanOcyte stimulating hormone
P: Prolactin

FSH in males
directly stimulates spermatogenesis - sperm look like "FiSH." In females, FSH obviously stimulates ovarian follicles (which secrete estrogens, which stimulate endometrial proliferation).
LH in males
stimulates androgen secretion so males become "Like Hairy Apes" (LH ? A). Androgens also stimulate spermatogenesis, so LH also indirectly stimulates spermatogenesis. In females, LH stimulates the corpus luteum (which secretes estrogens and progesterone, which stimulate the endometrium).

Autonomic Nervous System

Sympathetic: fight or flight
Parasympathetic: rest and digest
Causes of Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

"Maggie May Does Not Smoke"

Mutations, Migration, genetic Drift, Non-random mating, Selection.
Cell Cycle

"Go Sally Go! Make Children!"

G1, S, G2, M, C
Growth phase 1, DNA Synthesis (replication), Growth phase 2, Mitosis, Cytokinesis.

Mitosis
"People Meet And Talk", or
"PMAT"

Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase.
Meiosis

"PMAT x2"

Prophase I, Metaphase I, Anaphase I, Telophase I,
Prophase II, Metaphase II, Anaphase II, Telophase II,
(Note: 4 haploid daughter cells instead of 2 diploid daughter cells)
Chordate Features

"Do Not Pinch People"

Dorsal, hollow nerve cord
Notochord
Pharyngeal slits
Postanal tail
Developmental Stages

"Must Be Good"

Morula, Blastula, Gastrula
Fat-soluble Vitamins

"ADEK"

Vitamins A,D,E, and K
Gastrointestinal Hormones
(i.e. ones that originate from the GI tract)

"Garlic Cloves Smell Exquisite"

Hormone Source Target Triggers Effects
Gastrin Gastric mucosa Stomach Food in stomach, psychic factors Increased HCl secretion & gastric emptying
Cholecystokinin (CCK) Duodenal mucosa Gallbladder & pancreas Amino acids, peptides, fatty acids in duodenum Contraction of gallbladder & secretion of pancreatic juice
Secretin Gastric mucosa Pancreas Acid in duodenum Increased bicarbonate secretion
Enterogastrone (gastric inhibitory peptide) Duodenal mucosa Stomach Fat digestion products in duodenum Decreases gastric emptying


Hormones that Increase Blood Glucose

"STENGG"

Somatotropin (growth hormone)
Thyroid hormones (thyroxine and triiodothyronine)
Epinephrine
Norepinephrine
Glucagon
Glucocorticosteroids
Immunoglobulins

"MADGE"

IgM, IgA, IgD, IgG, IgE
Kingdoms

"My Poor Friend Picks Apples"

Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plants, Animals
Male Reproductive Tract (path of sperm)

"SEVEN UP"

Seminiferous tubules
Epididymis
Vas deferens
Ejaculatory duct
(Nothing)
Urethra
Penis
Menstrual Cycle

"FOL(d) M(a)PS"

Ovarian cycle: Follicular phase, Ovulatory phase, Luteal phase
Menstrual cycle: Menstrual flow, Proliferative phase, Secretory phase
The ovarian cycle controls the menstrual cycle. The cycles begin (day 0) when menstrual flow starts. At day 14, the luteal and secretory phases begin and last until day 28, after which the cycles begin again.
Molecular Genetics

"EXons EXpressed, INtrons IN the trash"

DNA expression into mature mRNA
"CUT the PY"


Cytosine, Uracil, and Thiamine are PYrimidines (one-ring structures)
"GAPur"


Guanine and Adenine are PURines (two-ring structures)
"All Tigers Can Growl"


Adenine bonds to Thymine; Cytosine bonds to Guanine
Or, "Pure Silver Taxi"

Purines, A and G, bond to pyrimidines, T and C, respectively
Oxyhemoglobin Dissociation Curve

Think of an exercising muscle for a rightward shift:

Exercising muscle is:

hot,
acidic (lactic acid),
hypercarbic,
and has increased 2,3-DPG.

Exercising muscle benefits from increased oxygen unloading from red blood cells.

Proteases in the Duodenum

"Eat Tender Chicken Chunks Elegantly"

Enterokinase
Trypsin
Chymotrypsin
Carboxypeptidase
Elastase

Note: The first enzyme is produced by intestinal mucosal cells, while the others are produced in inactive precursor forms by the pancreas.
Enterokinase converts trypsinogen into trypsin
Trypsin converts other trypsinogen molecules into trypsin
Trypsin converts chymotrypsinogen into chymotrypsin
Trypsin converts procarboxypeptidase into carboxypeptidase
Trypsin converts proelastase into elastase
Scientific Method


Inductive Reasoning
"IS GOHH"

Induction: Specific ? General. Or, Observation ? Hypothesis ? Hypothesis-testing.
The inductive process proceeds from specific observations to a general hypothesis.

Deductive Reasoning
"D(o)GS"

Deduction: General ? Specific
The deductive process proceeds from a general hypothesis to predictions about specific observations.
Sedimentation

Rate of SeDimentation is proportional to Size and Density

More precisely,
terminal velocity of particle ? radius2 x (density - density of medium)
Sizes

"Bowel Movement" or "BM"

A Bacterium is about 1 Micron (1 mm)
A eukaryotic cell is about 10 times larger (10 mm)
A virus is about 100 times smaller (0.01 mm)
Note: these are very, very rough guides. The ranges of sizes are wide.
Striated Muscle

"ZIAH"

Z-line, I-band, A-band, H-zone
Taxonomy

"King Phillip Came Over From Great Spain"

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
Vertebrate Features

"CEVASACK"

Cephalization
Endoskeleton
Vertebrae
Axial skeleton
Skull
Appendicular skeleton
Closed circulatory system
Kidneys
White Blood Cells

(In order of decreasing numbers.)
"Nobody Likes My Educational Background"
N Neutrophils
L Lymphocytes
M Monocytes
E Eosinophils
B Basophils

General Chemistry

Bonding
"HONC"
H requires 1 more electron in its outer shell to become stable.
O requires 2.
N requires 3.
C requires 4.

Cation

The "t" in cation looks like a plus sign: "ca+ion."
Electrochemistry

Reduction occurs at the Cathode; Oxidation at the Anode.

Remember that the terms beginning with consonants are together, and those beginning with vowels are together.
"LEO is A GERC (jerk)"


Loss of Electrons is Oxidation, which occurs at the Anode. Gain of Electrons is Reduction, which occurs at the Cathode.
Electrolysis

"MIT enough"

Moles deposited at an electrode = It/nF
Gibb's Free Energy

"Good Honey Tastes Sweet"

DG = DH - TDS
"Gee! Plus Arty! Thank you!"


DG = DG? + RTlnQ
"Delicious Grapefruit - Not For Everyone"

DG? = -nFE?

Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation

"HK + AHA"
or "Hong Kong + American Hospital Association"

pH = pKa + log10(A-/HA)
Hydrogen Bonding

"FON"

When a hydrogen atom is attached to either a fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen atom, it can form a hydrogen bond between it and another fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen atom.
Nernst Equation

"We minus Arty (is) enough, thank you."

E = E? - (RT/nF)lnQ
Paramagnetism

If a compound has at least one unpaired electron,
it is Paramagnetic,
and will be Pulled toward a magnetic field.

If not, it is diamagnetic, and is weakly repelled by a magnetic field. There is also a third type of magnetism: ferromagnetism, which is present in what we casually call "magnets," e.g. iron, nickel, cobalt.
Quantum Numbers

"National Library (of) Medicine Sizzles"

n, l, m, s
l Quantum Numbers

"Sensual People Do Foreplay"

s, p, d, f. Then it follows the alphabet: g, h, i, j, k, etc.
State Functions

"VG PHEST" (Very Good Festival)

The following are all state functions:
V for volume
G for Gibb's free energy
P for pressure
H for enthalpy
E for internal energy
S for entropy
T for temperature

Organic Chemistry

Addition of Amine to Carbonyl Group
"SE PI" (or "SEe PIe")

Secondary amine ? Enamine
Primary amine ? Imine
(Note: tertiary and quaternary amines do not react with the C=0 group.)
Cis/trans (Geometric) Isomers

"Z: Zame Zide
E: Epposite"

Z for same side and E for opposite sides
Conformations

Gauche conformation: It's "gauche" (inappropriate) for one methyl group to stand too close to another group.
Cyclohexane ring: When you have low energy, you sit down in a "CHAIR" to rest. "BOATS" can be tippy, so they are less stable.

Isomers

"SS - ED - CC"


Isomers of a sugar: If the second lowest -OH is on the Left, the molecule is L.
If the -OH is on the Right, it's D.
Meso Compounds

"MeSo compounds have a Mirror of Symmetry"
Thus, even though they may have stereogenic centers, they are achiral and so do not have enantiomers.
NMR

Downfield is Deshielded.
Meta-Directing Groups on a Benezene Ring

"Queen Elizabeth Second's Navy Commands, Controls, Communicates"
Q Quaternary amino -NR3+
E Ester -COOR
S Sulfonic acid -SO3H
N Nitro -NO2
C Carbonyl -CHO
C Carboxyl -COOH
C Cyano -CN
Ortho- and Para- Directing Groups on a Benezene Ring

"AHA AHA P"
A Alkyl -R
H Halogen -X
A Alkoxyl -OR

A Amino -NH2, -NHR, -NR2 (not -NR3+)
H Hydroxyl -OH
A Amide -NHCOR


P Phenyl -C6H5

Types of Reactions

"SEA MOuRNS CANned PEAs"

Substitution Electrophilic - Aromatic
Most Other Reactions - Nucleophilic Substitution
Carbonyl - Addition Nucleophilic
Pi bonds - Electrophilic Addition

Physics

Basic Physical Quantities
"Taking Luxurious Limos More Noxious Than Cycling"

Temperature (K)
Length (m)
Luminous intensity (Cd)
Mass (kg)
Number of particles (moles)
Time (s)
Charge (C)

Capacitors

"Quintessential Curriculum Vitae"

Q = CV

"England Hails Queen Victoria"

E (energy stored) = ?QV
Elastic Modulus

"Essay"

Elastic modulus = stress / strain
i.e. "es" / "ai" or "essay"

Stress is associated with the forss (force) applied.
Strain is the deformation produced.
Electromagnetic Spectrum

"RIVUXGa"

SAME DAVE - for spinal cord nerve origins ( I hope I remember the meanings correctly)

sensory - afferent
motor - efferent
dorsal - afferent
ventral - efferent

mneumonic curtesy of EK materials

I have posted a link in the "Really Good Websites" thread. That link has a bunch of mnemonics that you guys could use. Please also check them out.

Tweetie

not sure if this one has been mentioned yet, but ADH: always digging holes. this is an easy way to remember that antidieuretic hormone allows reabsorption of water from kidneys, therby concentrating the urine.
caffeine and alcohol are ADH blockers

WOW!! thanks.

LEO the lion GERsss

Lose Electrons = Ozidize

Gain Electrons = Reduce


AN Ox and a RED CAT

Anode is site of Oxidation; cathode is site of Reduction.

i usually spend 2-3 hours a night on mcat material, but when it comes to taking practice tests i draw blanks. i usually miss questions because of misinterpreting graphs or diagrams on the BS section. any good advice for resolving these types of problems?

also does anyone have any good mnemonics they use for PS equations. i memorize all the equations, but i'm not getting the hang of when to use the right one. i usually use an equation that seems right, and i come up with an answer that looks appropriate, but i use the wrong equation and therefore the answer is wrong.

any helpful advice is appriciated,

ac

PS meaning "physical sciences"?

This one from my old chem teacher is kind of silly, but I've never forgotten it.

MM of a gas is what a dog does outdoors. "Dirt over pee," or
MM=dRT/P (d=density, R=ideal gas constant, T=temp, P=pressure)

Yeah, awful. I'll post some better ones when I can think of them.

as to when to use which formula, the only thing that has really helped me is to practice extensively. good luck!

Originally posted by maiko82
PS meaning "physical sciences"?

This one from my old chem teacher is kind of silly, but I've never forgotten it.

MM of a gas is what a dog does outdoors. "Dirt over pee," or
MM=dRT/P (d=density, R=ideal gas constant, T=temp, P=pressure)

Yeah, awful. I'll post some better ones when I can think of them.

Click to expand...

that was a great one. that was one that i kept flipping around, but after that mnemonic i'll never forget.

thanks
ac

bump

Heifetz,

One word. WOW. still reeling in shock.


Only one change to the SAME DAVE mnemonic : Dorsal, not distal.

Sensory-Afferent (i.e. sensory neurons are afferent)
Motor-Efferent (motor neurons are efferent)

Dorsal-Afferent (i.e. dorsal, sensory afferent neurons enter the CNS dorsally)
Ventral-Efferent (i.e. motor neurons exit the CNS ventrally)

parasympathetic preganglionic neurons are LONG. Remember this by using "para long pre"

A couple of more for O-chem that I got from Examkrackers:

HAL = basic amino acids (Histidine, Arginine, Lysine); courtesy of examkrackers...

Nonpolar (hydrophobic) amino acids:
I saw (ISO) LEUcy METHodically PRObe and PHEel ALAN and then VAL TRYPped on the GLYCINE

(This would be Isoleucine, Leucine, Methionine, Proline, Phenylalanine, Alanine, Valine, Tryptophan, Glycine)

Actions of some hormones:
INsuline makes glucose go INto the cell.
GlucaGON makes glucose GONE from the cell.
CalciTONin TONES down calcium concentrations in the blood.

And I thought I had one for the muscle fibers but I just forgot it so I'll post it after I finish re-reviewing that part.

Good luck, everyone! Almost (yikes!) there!

I Pick My A$$ Today
( Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase)

U Go Away, U Are Away, U Are Gone!
(UGA, UAA, UAG for stop codons)

Does anyone have a trick for keeping the boiling points and melting points straight? For ex: cis vs. trans, branching vs. unbranching, order of boiling for alcohols, ketones, carb acids, esters, etc. etc....

i know cis alkenes boil higher and melt lower (??) than trans, but the branching and stuff always messes me up.

Thanks a bunch!

bump (kinda desperate here!!!)

Amino Acids...

NonPolar

'God Always Vants Little Insects'

NonPolar

Glycine, ALanine, Valine, Leucine, Isoleucine

and then i just memorize Tryptophan, Proline, Methione, and Phenalaline


Polar
GCATS (like the mcats...but with a G!) GA LAH

Glutamine, Cysterine, Asparagine, Theronine, Serine

Acidic: Gulatamic Acid, Aspartic Acid

Basic: Lysine, Arginine, Histidine

its lame, i know, but it helps me...and ga lah is like a chinese word 'ga lah ma' which means too talkative and full of **** so thats why i made it ga lah.

and for glucose, its **** glucose...make a middle finger and where ur finger is pointing is where the OHs are

anyways, good luck on sat guys...i hate verbal!!!

Histidine is an acidic amino acid.... per Berkely preview. Pka of R group was around 6.... correct me if you're sure that's wrong. (I looked it up after reading that post)

Sonya,
Must be a misprint if ya think about it. AA are defined as acidic or basic at a ph=7. So if His has a pKa of 6 that means at pH 7 one mol of His will have MORE than half of it H's missing (its gonna attract free hydrogens)...so His is indeed a basic aa by the common definition. Also my biochem book tells me so.
--Hope this clears things up--
Ryan

don't follow. glutamic acid and aspartic acid are acidic amino acids... right? And there Pka is around 4, because the R group has a carboxyl. so, if the pka is less then 7 it should be considered acidic....

What i think the thing is is that glutamate is basic, while glutamic acid is acidic... same way the deprotoanated histidine is basic, and the protonated (on R group is acidic)... I think i'll study in some biochem book though. The review book only said pka was 6, i concluded that meant acidic.

ryan... that logic doesn't exactly sond right. Anyway, i'm gonna study it while doing my last review, since your book apparently says it's "basic".

Sorry Sonya,
I was pretty tired, as I am now, and typing fast. Your right, what I wrote and what I meant to say were two totally separate things! I neglected to clarify that His IS about 10% protonated (thus "over half" is deprotonated) at pH 7 because a pka=6.0 is SOOOOO close to 7. As you said, Aspartic and Glutamic aa's have pKa's of about 4. (note that these are logarithmic functions so the difference between 6&7 in MUCH smaller than 4&7) Thus by 'the time' one brings up the pH of a solution to 7, all the Asp and Glu are in the COO- form and virtually none in the protonated form. Therefore they cannot act as bases. However, at pH=7 His can still act as a base. Hopefully that made a little sense. Although I'm to tired and lazy to proof read at this point (I've got a 6mo baby boy, a full time job, a wife in a masters degree program to support, 10+ hours of virology research per week and go to school full-time on top of taking the MCAT yesterday). Please have some sympathy for my lack of logic on 2hrs of sleep that I got at my desk while waiting for a PCR reaction to complete. I am glad you caught my mistake and were going to look up in a biochem book that His is indeed a basic aa before the MCATs. I hope everyone in the SDN gang did well on the MCATs!! I actually got some VERY nice sleep before the big day, I feel great about how I did. Hope ya'll feel the same.

-Ryan

Thought this might be helpful...So BUMP!

Geez, I think a lot of this is way more detailed than you need for the MCAT. I mean, some of it is certainly useful but I think if you are focusing too much on this stuff, you are misfocusing your energy.

Anyhow, thanks for the bump because there are a few things on there that i find useful.

I agree with Cerb... but some of it's useful.

right on....i guess more stuff to learn now

nervewrecking

Originally posted by Cerberus
Geez, I think a lot of this is way more detailed than you need for the MCAT. I mean, some of it is certainly useful but I think if you are focusing too much on this stuff, you are misfocusing your energy.

Anyhow, thanks for the bump because there are a few things on there that i find useful.

Click to expand...

Do people actually memorize all these sayings? lol... I think I would find it harder to keep all of these sayings straight than to actually learn the material...

lol same thing I said. It's extra work just remembering the sayings. Nevertheless, I thought it interesting.

It would be useful if there was one for molecular geometry - i always get my trigonals and shiz confused.

Originally posted by rCubed
for the hormones secreted by the anterior pituitary gland

FLAT PIG

F- FSH
L- LH
A- ACTH
T- TSH

P- Prolactin
G- GH

Click to expand...

actually, make it FLAT PEG

and add E for Endorphins (according to the kaplan book)

bump

bump...i think this will be useful for all the August MCATers. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

I'm with Cerb on this one. You are going to quickly enter the law of diminishing returns with these, and end up wasting all your time just memorizing mnemonics. Some are VERY good to know (CUT the PYE, Pure as Gold, FLAT PIG) - but most of these are WAY too detailed for what you need to know for the MCAT.

A mnemonic for STOP codons? Please - IF you get a question like this on the MCAT, they WILL tell you what they are. You are just wasting brain cells on things like that.

Good luck in August.

Instead of a mnemonic for Pyrimidines and Purines just remember that the pyrimidines both have a "Y" in the name, cytostine (sp?) and thymine. And the purines do not, adenine and guanine. (yes, this doesn't work for uracil, a pyrimidine, but thats not so hard to remember!)

Also, and this may be too detailed, but pyrimidine is a long name to describe a small molecule (1 ring). And purine is a small name to describe a large molecule (2 rings).

-tx

Anyone know an easy way to remember what the ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm become??

thanx

MAWT = Mnemonics Are a Waste of Time

Seriously, every seasoned MCAT taker knows that mnemonics are, for the most part, a waste of time. Hours and hours of studying mnemonics might amount to one question of so...time should be spent learning the basic concepts of/practicing your weaker areas.

If I remember correctly, OIL RIG is useful...that's about it...

The order of electronegativity for certain elements:
(I can remember this partly because one of the officials in OK had a name like Brisch)

Phone Call (from) Brisch

F > O > N > Cl > Br > I > S > C > H

more electronegative --------> less

Some of my classmates used a different word for Brisch, but it wasn't as smooth.

txguy said:

Instead of a mnemonic for Pyrimidines and Purines just remember that the pyrimidines both have a "Y" in the name, cytostine (sp?) and thymine. And the purines do not, adenine and guanine. (yes, this doesn't work for uracil, a pyrimidine, but thats not so hard to remember!)

Also, and this may be too detailed, but pyrimidine is a long name to describe a small molecule (1 ring). And purine is a small name to describe a large molecule (2 rings).

-tx

Click to expand...

better yet...just remember Angels and Gods are pure...(A & G are purines)

booyah! trumped you!

Wait a second...MNEMONICS ARE USELESS, *****...

MoosePilot said:

The order of electronegativity for certain elements:
(I can remember this partly because one of the officials in OK had a name like Brisch)

Phone Call (from) Brisch

F > O > N > Cl > Br > I > S > C > H

more electronegative --------> less

Some of my classmates used a different word for Brisch, but it wasn't as smooth.

Click to expand...

or you could just understand the periodic table and TURN TO IT IN THE BOOKLET...

OTheHorror said:

or you could just understand the periodic table and TURN TO IT IN THE BOOKLET...

Click to expand...

LOL - that's great. Now turn to the periodic table and show me how you could get exactly that info? The crude electronegativity is in the periodic table, but if there's an easy way to tell that N is more electronegative than Cl from the periodic chart, I don't know it.

I did know the periodic trends, but knowing electronegativity specifics can pay off on some questions.

endoderm mesoderm anyone? i'll take anything ..

whournameiz said:

endoderm mesoderm anyone? i'll take anything ..

Click to expand...

Ectoderm = "attractoderm" anything that attracts you to someone else ... lens of eye (eyes), nervous system (personality), skin, etc.

Mesoderm = "meanstoderm" anything that it takes to do something or go somewhere. Bladder (gotta GO pee), musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular system (running and moving), tendons etc (to pull against), etc

Endoderm: What is inside, lining of digestive system, etc.
--------

Cells:

EPA (environmental protection agency) E lectrolytic (galvanic) P ositive A node

Remember Galvanic cells ARE electrolytic cells (synonyms) and the ANODE IS NEGATIVE IN THE OTHER CELL TYPE (non electrolytic)

Cathode and Reduce both have "C" in them .... (so anodes ALWAYS oxidize).

---------

Right Hand Rule (learn to love this one, BIG TIME)

---------

Oil Rig (oxidation is loss [of electrons], Reduction is Gain)

Another way to remember this same thing is to look at the CHARGE above the atom.

Ag (in ground state, the CHARGE is 0) --> Ag+ (this has been OXIDIZED) since the number above Ag has increased.

Cu3+ --> Cu2+ (this has been REDUCED sinced the number above it is REDUCED [went down]

Cl --> Cl- (this is also REDUCED [went from 0 --> -1]

If you remember this, you need NOT remember OIL RIG or LEO says GER
-----------

Hope that helps.

I just learned this today...for the nervous system and how they have the sympathetic and parasympathetic division...when sex organs are involved

Sympathetic = ejaculate, orgasm

Parasympathetic = erection

Point and Shoot

the best one of all... you won't forget it...

CMEN...

connective, muscle, epithelial, nervous

the bases:
*just like someone else said, cytosine and thymine have 'y' for pYrimidine
*PUrine has TWO rings... it rhymes
*AT and GC bind to each other since AT are both straight and GC are both curved. 3 is also curved which shows the # of h bonds on GC.

King Philip Came Over For Great Soup!

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

==========
PUGA 2

Purines ---> Guanine/Adenine--2 rings

bumpty bumpati *bump*

Longitudinal waves move parallel to the source. I think of the the two l's at the end of the word 'longitudinal' as the symbol for parallel lines.

Transverse waves move perpendicular to the source. I think of a capital 'T' as being an upside down perpendicular symbol.

I made this one up and it really helps me to remember the periodic trends.

Electronegativity, Electron Affinity, Energy of Ionization Encreases going up and to the right on the periodic table.

The only one that goes the opposite way (left and down on the periodic table) is atomic radius.

Hope this helps!

JohnHolmes said:

Ectoderm = "attractoderm" anything that attracts you to someone else ... lens of eye (eyes), nervous system (personality), skin, etc.

Mesoderm = "meanstoderm" anything that it takes to do something or go somewhere. Bladder (gotta GO pee), musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular system (running and moving), tendons etc (to pull against), etc

Endoderm: What is inside, lining of digestive system, etc.
--------

Cells:

EPA (environmental protection agency) E lectrolytic (galvanic) P ositive A node

Remember Galvanic cells ARE electrolytic cells (synonyms) and the ANODE IS NEGATIVE IN THE OTHER CELL TYPE (non electrolytic)

Cathode and Reduce both have "C" in them .... (so anodes ALWAYS oxidize).

---------

Right Hand Rule (learn to love this one, BIG TIME)

---------

Oil Rig (oxidation is loss [of electrons], Reduction is Gain)

Another way to remember this same thing is to look at the CHARGE above the atom.

Ag (in ground state, the CHARGE is 0) --> Ag+ (this has been OXIDIZED) since the number above Ag has increased.

Cu3+ --> Cu2+ (this has been REDUCED sinced the number above it is REDUCED [went down]

Cl --> Cl- (this is also REDUCED [went from 0 --> -1]

If you remember this, you need NOT remember OIL RIG or LEO says GER
-----------

Hope that helps.

Click to expand...

JohnHolmes,
Thanks for the insights. I was confused about mesoderm. I've always respected your comments, but I find myself questioning what you said about cells. I thought voltaic=galvanic and the anode here is neg, whereas the electrolytic cell has a positive anode.