FLASHCARDS: Chunk It!
TRANSCRIPTS:
Welcome to another edition of Math! Science! History! Flashcards! Today we’re going to chunk it! Have you ever been stuck trying to remember a long number? Maybe a phone number, a password, or even your credit card number? Well, there’s a simple trick that makes it way easier. It’s called chunking.
Chunking is a memory trick where you break long numbers into smaller, more manageable groups. Your brain loves patterns, and instead of remembering one long string of numbers, it’s much easier to store three or four shorter chunks.
Let’s test it out. Say I give you this number: **74926351**. Feels overwhelming, right? But if we break it into chunks, such as **749 — 263 — 51** suddenly, it’s a little easier to hold onto. That’s because our brains are wired to handle around seven pieces of information at a time, give or take two.
Think about phone numbers. Most are formatted like 877–827-5462. The first 3 digits are 877. Easy to remember. The second three numbers are 827. It’s kind of like 877, only the second number is a 2 and not a 7. Finally, the last four digits are 5462. I would remember this one as the ratio between the first two digits and the second two digits, which are 1 to 4. That’s because 5 minus 4 is 1, and 6 — 2 is 4. But everybody has different associations so try whatever works for you. But nevertheless the last four digits are 5462.
So, the number is 877–827-5462. That phone number used to be the Harvey Milk Homework Hotline made available through Harvey Milk College. However, it is currently on hiatus due to funding. It was a free, over the phone tutoring service designed for students between fourth and twelfth grade. It was staffed by college student tutors who were trained to assist students in high school and middle school in a wide variety of subjects. Hopefully they will be able to bring it back soon!
And what about your credit card? Let’s say you are just tired of pulling out your wallet and dealing with a super tight wallet where you can’t pull anything out of it, to see your credit card. You can memorize it! Most credit cards have fifteen and sixteen digits. Let’s say you want to remember your Visa card. Here’s an interesting side note.
Every credit card starts with a specific kind of number that is called an MII, which means Major Industry Identifier. So, a VISA card starts with 4, Mastercard starts, with 2 or 5, American Express starts with 34 or 37, and Discover starts with 6. So once you know what kind of card it is, you can chunk it out, find associations between the numbers for easier memorization, and voila, you have just memorized your credit card number.
If chunking isn’t for you, there are other ways to memorize numbers. You can find patterns or meanings in the numbers. For example, the number 7392 could relate to the year 1973 and the year 1992, or the number 5937 could remind you of somebody’s street address. Or if the numbers rhyme, that works well too. For example, if their address is 5932 and their house just happens to be blue, well you got a little poem that you can sing on the way to your new friend’s house!
What I usually do is find mathematical associations between the numbers. For example, 9753 has two sets of numbers with the difference of the value 2. Because 9 minus 7 is 2 and 5 minus 3 is 2.
Some people actually like to make a story with their numbers. That’s not my thing. But some people like to do it. For example the number 8786–7782-5722 could have a story like yesterday I bought a rubber ball pit for $8,786. But I realized it was too small because I had 7,782 balls, but the pit only held 5,722 balls. Meh. I don’t know. If that works for you, try it!
Memorizing long numbers doesn’t have to be a struggle. With chunking, finding patterns, or even creating a story, you can make numbers stick in a way that works best for you. Whether it’s a phone number, a credit card, or just a random sequence, your brain is more powerful than you think—it just needs the right strategy. So next time you need to remember a long number, try one of these tricks and see how much easier it gets. Thanks for listening, and happy memorizing! Until next time, carpe diem!