MTH 231    Fall 2005

 

Teacher:                    Thomas P. Svobodny

                                 241 MM  775-2379

 

Office Hours:              1330 -- 1400 M; 1030 Ð 1100 W

                                  You don't need an appointment to see me during                                   office hours; but it is safer to make an appointment if you want to see me at other times.

   

Math Dept Office:       120MM 775 2785

 

Text:                   Calculus: Concepts and Contexts, by Stewart     

                                    (there is also a Lab Manual).

 

Webpage: http://www.math.wright.edu/MS/AppliedMath/calc3.html

 

Evaluation:                   Exam 1                                       15%

                                    Exam 2                                       20%

Exam 3                                       20%

                                    Final Exam                                  30%

                                    Homework and Labs                  15%

 

                  No make-up exams will be given. Anyone who scores 100% on the final will receive an A for the course, regardless of grade to that point.

 

Weekly structure: HW is due every Wednesday  (check web for assignment [and other announcements]); you will also need to use some of the open lab times Ð or use Mathematica at home or in other labs on campus; as much time as possible will be devoted to Problem Solving (this will NOT mean watching a teacher do ÒexamplesÓ while hoping to replicate them on the test).

 

Course Content:       The topics of the course are the study of infinite sequences and sums; parametric equations and conic sections; curves in space; and an introduction to vector calculus. Some highlights of the course are the computation of approximations of transcendental functions (and thus of numbers such as p and e) and the derivation of Kepler's laws of planetary motion  from Newton's laws.

We will spend most of the first week in review of pre-calc, calc I, and calc II. The first topic in the course will be infinite series. You can warm up for this by reviewing lÕHopitalÕs, limits to infinity, and improper integrals.

 

To do well in this course:      Don't read the book without a pencil and paper on hand. Do all of the labs. Do all of the problems on the homework (without using the book).  Do more problems than are on the homework.  Find sources of extra problems. Ask questions in class. Make a list of questions before coming to class. If your questions are not answered in class, come to my office hours. Don't hesitate to approach me about something you do not understand. If you did very well in your previous calculus courses, you should expect to spend about 10 hours a week doing problems outside of class; if you did not do so well, you will need to spend much more time doing problems (without consulting the book).