Thursday, March 24, 2011

Mnemonic for the lunar distance

The lunar distance is the distance between the earth and the moon. On average this is 384.400 kilometers. How can we easily remember this number. Well, here is a mnemonic.

We're talking about a distance in astronomy, so let's associate this distance with the Theory of relativity. The most famous equation in special relativity is E = mc², let's remember the Square of this formula. Now let's perform some mnemonic magic.

  1. Perform the mnemonic count system on the Theory of relativity: count the letters in each word and keep the last digit. Theory: 6; of: 2; relativity: (1)0 --> 620
  2. 620² = 384.400

It's easy, isn't it? You'll never forget that number again.
(Count("Theory of relativity"))^2 = 384.400