Why You Forget Math Formulas (and How to Lock Them in Your Brain)

It’s a painfully familiar story. You spent hours studying for a math test, diligently memorizing formulas. You knew the Pythagorean theorem ($a^2 + b^2 = c^2$) and the formula for the area of a circle ($\pi r^2$) by heart. You used them on the exam, and then… poof. A few weeks later, they’re gone, vanished from your mind as if they were never there. Why is it so hard to make math formulas stick? The reason is simple: your brain is designed to forget information that it doesn't understand.

The Difference Between 'Renting' and 'Owning' Knowledge

When you memorize a formula without understanding the concepts behind it, you are engaging in what’s called rote memorization. This is the most superficial level of learning. It’s like writing the formula on a mental whiteboard. The information is there temporarily, but because it has no connections to any other knowledge in your brain, it gets wiped clean with shocking speed. You are essentially "renting" the information for the test.

To truly "own" a formula, you need to store it in your long-term memory. And the only way to do that is to give it context and meaning. Your brain is a connection-making machine. It holds onto information that is linked to a rich network of other ideas. A formula in isolation is useless trivia; a formula that you understand conceptually is a powerful tool.

Build the Scaffolding Before You Hang the Picture

Think of a formula as a picture you want to hang on a wall. If you try to hang it on a bare, flimsy wall, it will just fall down. You need to build a solid scaffold of understanding first. This is where a puzzle-based learning tool like Matiks comes in.

Matiks doesn't drill you on formulas. Instead, it helps you build the conceptual scaffolding required for those formulas to make sense.

For example, instead of memorizing geometric formulas, you might solve dozens of spatial reasoning puzzles. Through this playful practice, you start to develop a deep, intuitive sense of how shapes relate to each other, how they rotate, and how they fit together. You're building the scaffold. Later, when you encounter a formal geometric theorem or formula, it won’t be a random string of symbols. It will be the precise, formal language that describes the intuition you have already built. The formula "clicks" into place because the wall you're hanging it on is solid.

This process works because puzzles force you to discover the "why" behind a problem, not just practice the "how." When you solve a number sequence puzzle, you aren't just applying a given rule; you are discovering the rule yourself. That act of discovery forges a much stronger, more memorable neural pathway than passively reading a formula ever could.

If you want to stop forgetting formulas, stop trying to memorize them. Instead, focus on building your foundational problem-solving intuition. Use a tool like Matiks to play with numbers and shapes, to discover patterns, and to build that strong conceptual scaffold. Then, when you learn a formula, it will be locked into your brain for good, because it will finally make sense.