MCAT Study Guide: Chapter 4

Memory questions on the MCAT are exactly what they sound like: They test your knowledge about a specific fact or concept. While memory questions are typically plant as free-continuing questions, they tin likewise be tucked into a passage and represent 25% of science questions on the MCAT.

MCAT beaker

But don't worry! Bated from requiring memorization, these questions do not generally cause bug for students considering they are similar to the types of questions that would appear on a typical higher science exam.

What Should I Memorize?

Mastery of the basics and the ability to apply those concepts to unfamiliar situations is what will sustain you on the MCAT. Simply if you're stressing about what MCAT formulas to memorize, here is a short list of rules and equations collected by our MCAT test experts. This is by no means a definitive list only rather a sampling to jump commencement your prep.

And remember, information technology'southward more nearly awarding of cognition, than straight upwards memorization of knowledge.

Chemistry Physics/Math

Organic Chemical science

  • recognizing and naming of organic functional groups using IUPAC nomenclature
  • CIP rules for assigning absolute configuration (R/Southward)
  • separation techniques, notably chromatography
  • principles of spectroscopy techniques, notably IR and oneH-NMR
  • recognizing mutual organic reaction types (SNi/SN2, add-on reactions, nucleophilic addition-elimination reactions)
  • structure, classification, and pK adue south of amino acrid side chains
  • structure/reactivity of carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids

Full general Chemical science

  • Avogadro's number
  • common polyatomic ions
  • Electronegativity lodge: FONCIBrISCH
  • masses/charges of radioactivity particles
  • Gibbs energy equation-ideal gas law
  • ideal gas law
  • one mol of a gas = 22.four 50 at STP
  • phase solubility rules
  • salt solubility rules
  • common strong acids and bases
  • ion-product constant of water (K w)
  • K a Grand b, pK a/pK b relationships
  • definition of pH and general logarithm math
  • Henderson-Hasselbalch equation for the pH of a buffer
  • oxidation land rules
  • loss of electrons is oxidation (LEO)
  • gain of electrons is reduction (GER)

Some handy math formulas:

  • prefixes for powers of ten
  • sine and cosine values for special angles
  • SOHCAHTOA
  • vector improver and subtraction
  • log rules
  • approximation techniques for square roots

Read more  MCAT math tips

Some constants include:

  • acceleration of gravity on Earth
  • density of water
  • Coulomb's abiding
  • elementary charge
  • speed of sound in air
  • speed of low-cal in vacuum

Some equations and the rules for using them:

  • bones kinematic equations
  • Newton'due south laws
  • piece of work formula
  • conservation of free energy
  • Start Constabulary of Thermodynamics
  • buoyant forcefulness equation
  • continuity equation
  • electric force-field relation
  • electric potential energy-potential relation
  • Ohm's law
  • menstruation-frequency relation
  • wave equation
  • Doppler shift
  • Snell's law
  • mirror and lens equation
Psychology/Folklore Biology and Biochemistry
  • characteristics of a truthful experiment
  • differences between independent and dependent variables
  • Weber's Constabulary
  • difference between top-down and bottom-up processing
  • Piaget's stages of cerebral development
  • Kohlberg'southward stages of moral evolution
  • stages of slumber and characteristics of each
  • bones flow of memory encoding and retrieval
  • deviation between Broca's area and Wernicke'southward expanse
  • major theories of emotion
  • major functions of each brain region
  • major personality theories
  • major psychological disorders
  • how mental attitude and behavior touch on each other
  • major social psychology theories
  • major types of learning
  • differences betwixt main vs. secondary and positive vs. negative reinforcers and punishers
  • the various reinforcement schedules and behavior associated with each
  • types of attributions
  • types of negative social interactions (discrimination, bias, etc.)
  • major theoretical approaches to sociology
  • types of social institutions
  • amino acrid side chain classifications (polar, not-polar, acidic, basic), their structure, and their accuse at pH vii.iv
  • amino acrid 3-letter and 1-letter abbreviations

  • the significance of △G structures/monomers of the four biological macromolecules
  • how to recognize oxidation and reduction reactions
  • fundamentals of acrid/base chemical science
  • four types of enzyme inhibitors Five max and K m

  • location/regulation of biochem pathways (and when one pathway might be favored over another)

  • lab techniques (ELISA, electrophoresis, blotting, and PCR)

  • Fundamental Dogma of molecular biology

  • DNA replication rules/enzymes

  • the start codon and the iii stop codons

  • different types/functions of RNA

  • how transcription is regulated

  • free energy required for protein translation

  • viral life cycles and genomes

  • classification of bacteria by structure/living weather

  • role of the eukaryotic signal sequence

  • plasma membrane structure

  • passive and active transport

  • machinery of G-poly peptide second messenger pathways

  • eukaryotic cell features (cytoskeleton, cell junctions, organelles)

  • four phases of mitosis
  • comparing of mitosis vs. meiosis
  • classical and not-classical dominance
  • 4 basic single gene crosses
  • 2 rules of probability
  • how to determine linkage and recombination frequency
  • equations and rules for Hardy-Weinberg
  • activity potential and voltage-gated channels
  • CNS anatomy
  • sympathetic vs. parasympathetic
  • center/ear beefcake
  • 5 classes of sensory receptors
  • hormones
  • heart beefcake
  • cardiac activeness potential
  • blood pressure, cardiac output, peripheral resistance
  • blood gas send
  • B cell and T cell part
  • antibiotic structure and classes
  • nephron structure/function
  • renin-angiotensin-aldosterone arrangement
  • digestive accompaniment organs
  • alimentary canal construction/function
  • sarcomere structure
  • sliding filament theory
  • musculus fiber types
  • conduction zone vs. respiratory zone
  • regulation of ventilation rate and pH
  • hormones and phases of the menstrual cycle
  • main germ layers and what they go
  • stem cells

MCAT Tips and Tricks?

At that place is no specific "pull a fast one on" to answering memory questions. Either you know the answer or you don't. If you find that you are missing a fair number of retentiveness questions on your MCAT practice tests, information technology is a sure sign that yous don't know the content well plenty. Become back and review.

MCAT Memorization Strategies

Mnemonics

Mnemonic devices are patterns (series of letters, the melody of your favorite vocal) that help you memorize. For instance, some people remember the definitions of the sine, cosine, and tangent of an acute angle in a right triangle past this mnemonic: SOH CAH TOA. The letters represent the post-obit: Sine = Opp/Hyp, Cosine = Adj/Hyp, Tangent = Opp/Adj.

Retention Palace

This mnemonic device involves imagining that you are moving through a familiar route or identify, such as the rooms of your babyhood home, and at various stops along the mode leaving a visual representation of a topic you desire to remember. To recall the info you demand, simply imagine walking through your "palace." We've heard of students using this technique for everything from the steps of the Krebs bike to the parts of the cell.

Outlines

The human action of writing something down goes a long fashion toward committing it to memory. Plus, concise and colorful i-page outlines are great study aids.

A Annotation About MCAT Flashcards

Flashcards can exist beneficial if your basic content knowledge is deficient in some surface area.  All the same, call up that the most challenging aspect of the MCAT is not that information technology requires yous to memorize the fine details of content cognition, but that it requires you lot to apply your basic scientific knowledge to unfamiliar situations, and flashcards alone volition non aid you at that place.  If you cull to utilise flashcards, make sure to incorporate plenty of practice passages and full-length practice tests to circular out your grooming.

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