We're going to memorize all of the element's atomic numbers, their symbols, and what most of their names mean. That's a lot to ask for just using the Peg System so I've done my best to create Memory Stories for each of the elements. Memory Stories are more entertaining than just Linking a vision to a Peg and if the vision is meditated upon a little it could possibly last a lifetime . Also, for association purposes common, academic, scientific and medical words that share the same word parts with the elements are also included.
Hydrogen (1), Peg (tea), symbol (H), means, "water producer" from the word parts –hydr-, water + -gen-, birth, produce, reproduce, generate, originate. [hydrant, Hydra the water snake, hydraulic, hydroelectric] [generator, lit. that which generates or produces, Eugene, lit. good birth, genus, lit. birth,
progeny, lit. beget forth, genesis, lit. origination, anthropogenesis, lit. man origination, genital, lit. relating to birth, , Alcaligenes, lit. alkali producing]
Memory Story: You're in a giant teacup [like Disneyland's teacup ride] sitting on a very comfy teabag when it spins around and a Hydra (Hydrogen) turns the hydrant (hydrant) on of boiling hot water so he can make tea. You want to yell HOT but the only thing you can utter is H…H…H…H…H.
Helium (2), Peg (Noah), symbol (He), means "sun element" from the word part -heli-, sun. [ heliosis, lit. sun condition, Helianthus, lit. sun flower, perihelion, lit. around the sun]
Memory Story: You're Noah in the next great flood but your ark is fitted with giant Helium tanks that make it float in the air and it's driven by solar power. When the sun comes out on the forty first day it's a day of celebration when the electricity comes on and to entertain the animals and your fellow survivors you breathe in lungs full of Helium and start talking to everyone like daffy duck. Everybody laughs, "He He He".
Lithium (3), Peg (Ma), symbol (Li), means "stone element" from word part –lith-, stone. [monolith, lit. one stone, lithograph, lit. writing or drawing (picture) stone, Neolithic, lit. new stone (Age), lithagogue, lit. bringing forth stone, lithocensosis, lit. stone emptying process, coprolite, lit. feces stone]
Memory Story: (You're about six years old and missing a couple of your front teeth so you lisp a little.) You're at the seashore with your Ma and she hands you a shell to put up to your ear so you can hear the ocean. You pick up a stone and say "Lithen Ma" (lithium). "I can hear the ocean in thith thone too," you Li(e) while waiting to see if she'll buy the lie and put the stone up to her ear.
Berylium (4), Peg (rye), symbol Be, means "beryl element". [beryloid, lit. looks like a beryl, berylonite, lit. beryl mineral, Berylidae, lit. Beryl family]
Memory Story: We're going to need to know what a beryl looks like for this memory story. [It's either the Whisky Rebellion or Prohibition Era.] You have about twenty barrels of rye whisky that you want to hide from the government so you bury all of them (beryllium) out by your rye fields and then put boxes of bee (Be) hives over the entombed barrels. The revenuers will never find them there under the beehives and you can dig them up as need be. It took you a week to dig the pit and you kept finding these pretty multi-faceted green, red, and greenish white crystal clusters in the pit. You found a barrel of beryls but they're probably not worth anything.
Boron (5), Peg (owl), symbol B, word part boro- being used in chemical term like borocarbide, borocitrate, etc.
Memory Story: Oh no. You have to attend Professor B. B. Borons boring class. He's an old tenured owl who wears a sweater with a big "B" on the front every day. His lectures should be recorded and marketed as insomnia cures.
Carbon (6), Peg (shoe), symbol C, word part –carb-, -carbo-, carbon-. [carbuncle, lit. (looks like) a diminutive (live) coal, Carboniferous, lit. bearing or yielding coal characteristic, carbonate, carbide]
Memory Story: You're Dutch child and after last year's embarrassing lumps of coal in your shoes you hope Santa Claus treats you better because this year you've been "soooo" good. You run downstairs and sure enough there's a C-note sticking out of the top of one of your shoes. But wait. There's carbon in the other one but it's ten big diamonds. Wow, thanks Santa.
Nitrogen (7) Peg (cow), symbol N, word part nitr- from niter or nitre . [Nitrobacteriaceae, lit. nitrogen bacteria plant (family), nitric, nitride]
Memory Story: [Warning: Not a very pretty picture.] You're young and very dumb because you're making nitroglycerine out in the family's old unused hen (N) house where you've been allowed to conduct your chemical experiments after a small mishap in the kitchen. You're family was so proud of you until the family cow knocked down one of the planks of the old hen house and. Well need I say more? Thank goodness you were in the house ordering more chemical supplies off the Internet when the hapless cow blew itself and the henhouse to kingdom come.
Oxygen (8), Peg (ivy), symbol O, from word part oxy- meaning "sharp or pointed, containing oxygen, acid, acute, fast". [oxymoron, lit. sharp dull, paroxysm, lit. beyond the extreme sharp condition, Amphioxus, lit. sharp on both sides, hypoxia, lit. less than normal oxygen condition, oxyphil, lit. acid lover, oxytocia, lit. fast childbirth condition]
Memory Story: You've been hired to remove the ivy from a very expensive house's wall. First you try using sharp and pointed tools and clear a very small "O" in the ivy. That took you half the day which is way too long. Next you borrow the oxygen tank from your Dad's oxyacetylene welding torch and burn another O off but it's obviously going to discolor the house, not to mention possibly burn the place down. Then you try the new acid based OxySoap which works great but you have to get the SOAP oFf fast (sharp, oxygen, acid, pointed, fast) because even though it takes off the ivy, the acid in it could also take off the wall, not to mention your clothes, skin, and hair.
Fluorine (9 ), Peg (bee) symbol F, from word part fluo- meaning "contains flurorine" + ine, substance , halogen element and about five other common word meanings. Fluorine gets its name from the mineral fluorite or calcium fluoride which can be used as a flux. From the word part –flu-, -fluv-, -flux- which means "to flow". [fluid, confluent, lit. that which flows together, effluvia, lit. a flowing out condition, chimney flue, flux, influenza, the flu originally thought by astrologers to be influenced by the stars]
Memory Story: You paint a picture using two cases of different colored fluoride toothpaste of giant bee flying from humongous flower to humongous flower. Unfortunately your art professor hated it and gave you an F. Fortunately the CEO of a toothpaste company saw it on EBay and has offered you ten thousand dollars for the original.
Neon (10), Peg (toes), symbol Ne, word part neo- means "new" + -on in Chemistry means "inert gas element". [neophyte, lit. new plant, neodymium, lit. new twin element, Neolithic, lit. like new stone, nearthrosis, lit. new joint condition, neostrophingic, lit. new turning hinge, neotony, lit. new stretching]
Memory Story: You've created a new glass tube for making Neon signs that you can bend intricately without using any heat. You show your creation to investors by first bending it around your toes and then finish by wrapping it around your leg up to your knee (Ne). You then pinch off the ends fill it with Neon and light it up. Cool.
Sodium (11), Peg (toad), symbol Na, taken from the words natrium and natron. The word soda originally meant splitting headache.
Memory Story: Your friend makes sodas (Sodium) from all sorts of natural things he finds in his backyard. He has some toads floating around in soda water today and offers you a toad soda to which you reply, "Na" (Na) because the proffered drink has a big toad sitting on the edge of the glass staring at you.
Magnesium (12), Peg (dune), symbol Mg, named for a Greek district in Thessaly called Magnesia. [magnet, Manganese]
Memory Story: You're on the planet Dune racing your retro MG (Mg) dune buggy/sand rail through the dunes with all your friends. When the giant worms start to chase you down you all turn on your magnetic (magnesium) fields which lift you all high in the air and you're out of there.
Aluminum (13), Peg (tomb), symbol Al, named from the base alum which literally means "bitter salt".
Memory Story: You've entered a tomb and once inside you discover the exterior stone walls encapsulate a very lightweight aluminum pyramid shaped spacecraft with alien writing all over the highly polished interior. Uh oh, I think you're in a Stargate story and all (Al) hell is about to break lose.
Silicone (14), Peg (tire), symbol Si, named from the word silica, flint.
Memory Story: [Warning: A bit bawdy.] You sigh (Si) with embarrassment as you discover your immature friends have used tubes of silicone to silicone implants on your tires and they're giggling in the back seat like a bunch of little school girls as you go flopping out of the school parking lot while everyone turns to see you and your friends in the boobmobile. Aptly named I would think.
Phosphorus (15), Peg (doll), symbol P, from word parts -phos-,-phot-, light + -phor-, -fer-, bring, bear, yield, carry. [Phosphor lit. light bear(er), is another name for "morning star or Venus", aphose, lit. without light, onychophosis, lit. nail light condition, phosgene, lit. to produce light, phosphorescence, lit. in the beginning stages of bearing light] [euphoria, lit. a bearing well, metaphor, lit. change a carrying, phoria, lit. a carrying, phorozoon, lit. animal motion]
Memory Story: [Warning: A bit off color.] [You're a young guy.] Your Army action figure (doll) is made in a foreign country and unbeknownst to you the whole thing is accessorized with phosphorus parts and painted with phosphorus paint to make it give off a cool glow in the dark. You're in your room and give your doll a little phosphorus torch (match) to carry before you take a lifelike picture to show your geekish friends tomorrow morning at school. The doll goes up like a torch and you try and put out the fire with the water you have on hand, so to speak, by Peeing (P) on it. That didn't do a damn bit of good because by then it was too late and unfortunately your room was incinerated before the fire department could put the fire out. Well it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Sulphur (16), Peg (dish), symbol S, word of uncertain origin.
Memory Story: You're back in a medieval times fantasy world and you and six other unfortunate villagers were chosen to do the horrific job of feeding the monstrous dragon under the mountain his six foot wide piled high dish of brimstone (sulphur) every day. You must be very careful so as not to wake him up from his sleep even though everyone's teeth are chattering and knees are knocking together. His snoring sounds like a thousand giant snakes hissing S's and the stench from his sulphuric morning breath is more than anyone can bear. You have to endure though because the group you all replaced heard the hissing stop when they accidentally dropped the dish and were turned into toast.
Chlorine (17), Peg (tag), symbol Cl, word part chlor- means "pale green, yellowish green, or having something to do with chlorine" + -ine, word ending for halogen elements, etc. [chlorophyll, lit. green leaf, chlorolabe, lit. green (retina cone) holder, chloropsia, lit. green vision condition, chlorosis, lit. green condition]
Memory Story: You're playing Clue (Cl) in your pool and tag each other with thrown cups of chlorine your Dad keeps by the pool. You decide it's time to quit when everyone's hair turns green and there's a yellowish green haze emanating from your skin and the water.
Argon (18), Peg (TV), symbol Ar, and means "inactive" from word parts a-, not or without + -erg-, -org-, -urg-, work + -on, inert gas word ending. [George, lit. earth worker, energy, lit. relating to work within, metallurgy, lit. relating to working with metal, erg, lit. work, ergasthenia, lit. work without strength, synergy, lit. relating to working together, organ, surgery]
Memory Story: You run a Fortune 500 company and your bank just called to tell you you're company is bouncing checks all over the place because you don't have any money in your accounts. You're mad as hell and you and your chief financial officer run down to (A.R.) or Accounts Receivable and discover your employees are not working, AGAIN. They're all sitting around watching the movie Jason and the Argonauts on TV or they're asleep with piles of money, checks, and paid invoices strewn about their desks which they're using as pillows.
Potassium (19), Peg (tub), symbol K and is derived from the word potash or pot of ashes from originally obtaining potash by leaching wood ashes and evaporating the obtained lye in iron pots. Potassium was originally called Kalium from which we get the K and the word parts -kali-, -kal- and -cali-. [alkali, Alcaligenes, lit. alkali producing, hyperkalemia, lit. excessive potassium in the blood condition, hyperkaluresis, lit. excessive potassium in the urine condition, kaliopenia, lit. potassium poverty condition]
Memory Story: [In this story we need to know what the Hindu goddess Kali looks like for associating to Kalium.] You take the old cast iron bathtub you found in the alley and get it ready for making potash. The multi-armed Kali is coming over to give you lessons on how to make Potassium using an iron pot and wood ashes and she wanted you to get as big a pot or in this case tub as you could find. Kali brings a giant iron key (K) for you to stir the stuff while the water evaporates. In case you don't know this let me give you a prudent piece of advice. Considering Kali's reputation I would pay very close attention to everything she says or does or you're a goner.
Calcium (20), Peg (nose), symbol Ca and its word part –calc- means "lime, limestone, or chalk". [calcify, lit. to make into limestone, calicosis, lit. limestone dust condition, calcinosis, lit. calcium condition. Also, its diminutive calcul-, a little piece of chalk or pebble, is used in the words calculus, calculate, calculosis, lit. diminutive stone condition]
Memory Story: You're a French building restorer in the early 1800's, who was drafted into French Army, and then sent to Egypt to serve in the infantry. Some drunken soldiers, who are friends of yours, have shot off the nose of the Sphinx and they've asked for your help to repair the damage or they'll be in caca* (Ca) up to their eyeballs if you know what I mean. You take about hundred pounds of chalk (calcium carbonate), grind it up into a fine white powder, which is called whiting, and mix it using the heels of your feet over three days with linseed oil to make homemade caulk (calc-, not related to calcium). You use the mass of caulk to adhere the nose back on the Sphinx, throw some sand on the smoothed overcrack, and voila, good as new. At least until the desert gets up to about 120 degrees and the caulk gives away but hopefully by then you and the Army will be gone when the nose hits the dirt. [*Caca is a Spanish word, familiar to many Americans, that means "dung or excrement" but it can also mean "spit" as in the ship name Caca Fuego (lit. Spitfire or fig. boaster).]
Scandium (21), Peg (net), symbol Sc, and means "Scandinavian element".
Memory Story: You sent all the way to Scandinavia (Scandium) for your very expensive specially woven fish net and now that you're out here in the ocean for the first time you find out you get seasick (Sc) real easy. Or. Your girl friend spends a fortune on sexy fish net stockings from Scandinavia and you tell her she looks like she has a bunch of holes in her sock (Sc).
Titanium (22), Peg (nun), symbol Ti, and means "Titans or 'the sons of Earth' element".
Memory Story: You're in the movie Titanic (Titanium) and your part is to tie (Ti) a nun to the after part of the ship's handrail so she won't be flung forward through the air when the Titanic nose dives forward and the after part of the ship is lifted into the air. It was a great scene but unfortunately you and nun's big shot hit the cutting room floor.
Vanadium (23), Peg (enema), symbol V, and means "Vanadis (a name of the Norse goddess Freya) element".
Memory Story: Warning: (A bit disgusting.) It happens every time. The high school cafeteria served their extra thick mac and cheese and they had to call in the emergency enema van (Vanadium) again because so many students were seriously constipated. Yep, you're one of the unfortunates, and with the whole school watching you enter the infamous enema van. Ten minutes later you emerge with a relieved smile on your face and give the crowd the famous Victory sign with both hands outstretched above your head amidst a thunderous cheering and applause. Only five hundred more students and twelve teachers to go; so to speak.
Chromium (24), Peg (Nero), symbol Cr and means "color element" from word part chrom- which means "color or having something to do with chromium". So named because of the varied colors of many of chromium's compounds. [achromatic, lit. without color, chromatic, lit. of color, chromaffin, lit. affinity for chromium, chromatism, lit. a color condition, chromidium, lit. diminutive color, chromosome, lit. color body]
Memory Story: [You're in Rome at around 60 A.D.] You were out joy riding in your parents chariot and just ran into Nero's multicolored chrome chariot and start to cry (Cr) because you know his reputation for mercy. None.
Manganese (25), Peg (nail), symbol Mn from the corruption of Magnesia. [see Magnesia]
Memory Story: You live in South America and the hybrid mango (Manganese) trees you helped create only bare mini (Mn) mangoes. Your Dad tells you to pick them all, which will take days climbing through the trees, and throw them away. You come up with the ingenious idea of using his nail gun to shoot the mini mangoes out of the tree by making a few unsafe alterations to the nail gun. It works great, except for a few unfortunate iguanas, and you pick up the nailed mangoes using an electromagnet you rigged up to the tractor's battery. You box all the nailed mangoes and take them to market to see if you can sell them. When the buyers baulk about the nails and their size you explain these are special mini- mangoes because they've been magnetized which makes them sweeter and more holistically energizing than the big ones. They use it as a marketing tool and you have hundreds of orders for nailed mini-magnetized mangoes now.
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