Mathematics 151 (on-line version), Sec. 540, Spring, 2008

Jump to latest lectures and assignments

Announcements (reverse chronological order)

• Final exam key. Grades are available on Blackboard Vista. Again, ALL OF YOU missed the trivial question about Newton's method. You want to find a root of the polynomial x³ - 63, so THAT is the function f. I'll give everybody credit for that question, since there was obviously some miscommunication there (so your final exam score is actually 4 points more than Vista shows). The question was intended as a gift, a chance to show that you had learned from your mistake on the second test.
• Final exam Friday, May 2, 10:00 a.m., BLOC 110. Solutions to the final exam will be posted here after the exam (probably on Saturday). I'm told that solutions to this semester's common exams are finding their way to the departmental M. 151 Web page, but they're not there yet (as of 3:00 May 1).
• Math Awareness Lecture, "Mathematics and Voting" (Monday, April 28, 6:30 p.m., BLOC 156)
• Remember to submit your course evaluation forms. A few "class participation" points will be awarded to those who participate. Also, see below (Weeks 13-14) for remarks on the third common exam, and read your e-mail about the final exam time.
• I did finish the Web page for Week 13. Other than that, the remarks in the previous announcement (below) are still in effect. Remember to e-mail me your final exam schedule!
• I will be away at a conference from noon Friday (4/11) through Tuesday evening (4/15). That means:
  • There will be no on-line recitation that Tuesday evening.
  • I probably will not finish updating this Web page for that week before I have to leave, so please be advised now that you should read Sections 6.1 and 6.2 and if possible start on 6.3. Section 6.2 is the last section to be covered on the third common exam (TUESDAY April 22), but Secs. 6.3, 6.4, and 6.5 will appear on the final exam, which will happen amazingly soon after the third exam.
• There will be no on-line recitation Tuesday evening, April 1.
• The lecture on l'Hospital's rule is finally finished, together with a link to some interesting related information. I'm sorry about the delay -- I had many other things to do this week (27 March). Don't forget to send me your final exam schedule; I have not heard from anyone yet.
• Grades on the second test have been posted. You ALL missed the easiest question on the test, the one about Newton's method. THINK before you walk into a trap!
• There will be no on-line recitation Tuesday evening, March 25.
• There will be no on-line recitations next week (Tuesday evening, March 4, and Wednesday afternoon, March 5), because I have conflicting commitments at both times. (Presumably that will not inconvenience you, because nobody but me has been logging in recently!) If you need help, please come in person to my regular office hours. (Anyway, you should stop by once in a while to pick up your old homework and tests.)
• It's been pointed out that the Monday recitation session conflicts with Week in Review -- my mistake! So, let's move it to Tuesday, starting next week (Feb. 26). After recitation on Tuesday evening (and/)or Wednesday afternoon, you should be ready to turn in the written homework Wednesdays at 4:00. I understand that the automated homework due dates will settle down to Sundays from now on, so the deadlines are nicely spread out. By the way, I will be away at a conference most of next weekend (Feb. 22-24). In case I don't get it onto the web before I leave, the reading assignment for next week is the rest of Chapter 3.
• Week 4 homework due date has now been put off to Sunday (Feb. 17).
• Because of a misunderstanding, the Cengage assignments for Weeks 2 through 4 were not made available to you till now (Feb. 9). They are there now! Because they relate to the first hour test, they will expire next Wednesday, Feb. 13!
• I think I can now safely announce permanent office hours.
  • Regular office hours: M 2:00-2:50, R 10:00-11:00, F 10:20-11:10. (These are the times you can expect to see me face to face in BLOC 620H.)
  • On-line recitation sessions: M 7:30-9:00 (p.m.), W 2:00-2:50.
• The first written homework assignment has now been graded. Those of you who are on campus can pick up your graded papers during my office hours. E-mail me if you need to make other arrangements.
• IMPORTANT. Our classroom for the common exams will be BLOCKER 624.
• No office hour Tuesday, Jan. 29. (I need to pick up my visitor at the airport.)
• On-line sessions and office hours for week Jan. 28 - Feb. 1:
  • On Monday, Jan. 28, I will log into the Recitation chat room both at 2:00 and at 7:30 p.m. Hope to see some of you there. Be prepared to talk about limits, continuity, asymptotes. Note: Bad things can happen if you log into both chat rooms at once. Be sure you have killed the "Chatter" window (if you had it open) before opening "Recitation".
  • I will be hosting a research visitor from Mexico this week (W-F), so I will be less available than usual. I will try to meet the same office hours as last week:
• Office hours for week Jan. 22-25: T 2, R 10, F 10:30 (for about an hour each time).
• Announcement of the Week in Review
• Office hour Wed. Jan. 16 will start at 3:00 (not 2:00 as previously announced).

E-mail message archive

• April 25 (final exam time and room!)
• April 18 (final exam time!) (time later changed!!)
• March 24 (final exam time?)
• Feb. 18 (Test 1 results)
• Feb. 13 (Late homework)
• Feb. 12
• Feb. 10
• Feb. 8
• Jan. 24 (Recitation login)
• Jan. 21
• Jan. 12

Course handout

Vista login (chat rooms, discussion boards, gradebook)

Vista help pages ._. The most likely to be useful are:

• Logging In to Vista
• Posting Messages on the Discussion Board
• Using Chat and Whiteboard Rooms: Student Version

Cengage login (automated homework, formerly called ILrn)

Before you use the link above for the first time, go to http://www.math.tamu.edu/~epstein/eHW, read and follow the directions there. Do this even if you were registered in iLrn for a previous course (in which case you'll find a separate page of instructions for your situation).

Homework problems (departmental list)

Departmental Math. 151 home page ._. Information useful to students shows up mostly in the bottom half of the list of links, but see also "Weekly Schedule" near the top.

Math. 151 study material from other TAMU instructors

• Joe Kahlig (Week in Review) ._. the official WIR for this semester, under construction
• Amy Austin ._. Week in Review archive; video and audio
• Art Belmonte ._. Click on "L" for summary and examples for the section concerned. (You may ignore the Matlab and TI-89 remarks since we're not using those.)
• Philip Yasskin (Maplets)

Getting started

• "Lecture" for "Week 0" ._. This is a first attempt at producing something that looks like a PowerPoint or overhead-projector presentation instead of a textbook. It's intended for on-screen viewing only (Save the Trees!). I'm trying to figure out how to make a printer-friendly version.
• Log in to Blackboard Vista (see above) and explore the user interface.
  • Go to the discussions page and introduce yourself in the "bios" topic.
  • Go to the chat-and-whiteboard page; enter the "Chatter" chatroom and experiment with the user interface. Hints:
    • To type in the chat list, type in the VERY BOTTOM window, then hit "return".
    • To draw on the board, grab the second item in the first column of the toolbar (top right).

For Week 1 (Jan. 14-18)

• At your discretion, look at the Vectors and trig review and the other relevant material on the Belmonte and Austin pages.
• Come back here for the "lecture" on Secs. 1.1-2. (Here is the related Maple session.) Pay particular attention to the treatment of projections at the end (which is different from the book's). It starts with slide 14.
• Information and instructions about the homework system will appear later.

For Week 2 (Jan. 22-25)

• Read Sections 1.3, 2.2, and 2.3. (Sec. 2.3 may run over into the next week.)
• You might take advantage of the 3-day weekend to read Secs. 0.5 ("A Preview of Calculus") and Sec. 2.1. (Stewart thinks velocity and derivatives are so important that he covers them four times. We can't formally make room for that in our schedule.)
• Come back here for the lecture.
• By now you should have taken the first on-line "assignment" (really more of a training session for Cengage) and should have access to the first real on-line homework, which must be finished by Jan. 27.
• Our first written homework assignment, due 5:00 p.m. Friday 1/25 (see e-mail message): The extra problem ("Also be able ...") on the departmental homework page.

For Week 3 (Jan. 28 - Feb. 1)

• Read Secs. 2.5 and 2.6.
• If you bought the Maple Calclabs book, explore the first few chapters. I'll try to make more use of Maple demonstrations in future weeks.
• Be sure to keep up-to-date with the on-line homework. I do not control when the assignments become available or when they are due, so from now on I'll leave it up to you to check Cengage periodically.
• Similarly, I will no longer remind you about Art Belmonte's study sheets, the Week in Review, etc. Make use of them if you find them helpful.
• Here is the "lecture" on asymptotes and continuity.
• In preparation for next week, read Sec. 2.7. (First read 0.5 and 2.1 if you haven't already.)
• A written homework assignment, due Mon. Feb. 4 at earliest, may appear here later. (It didn't.)

For Week 4 (Feb. 4-8)

• Read Secs. 3.1-3.3. (Read Secs. 2.1 and 2.7 if you haven't already.)
• One last time: Be sure to keep up-to-date with the on-line homework. I do not control when the assignments become available or when they are due, so from now on I'll leave it up to you to check Cengage periodically.
• Come back here for the "lecture". (CORRECTED 2/5 and again 2/9.)
• A written homework assignment, due 3:00 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11:
  • Ex. 3.1.26, p. 157. (Follow the directions, "... USING THE DEFINITION OF DERIVATIVE". You get no credit for writing down the answer from the power rule or quotient rule. I can guarantee you will have to do a problem like this on the test next week.)
  • Ex. 3.2.12, p. 168.
  • Ex. 3.3.8, p. 178.
• Remember that you have a test next Thursday (Feb. 14). You should start studying the old tests (1A and 1B).

For Week 5 (Feb. 11-15)

• Finish the backlog of automated homework relevant to Thursday's test.
• Read Secs. 3.4-3.5.
• Lecture on trig functions and chain rule.
• Of course, come to the test on time (7:30) Thursday evening. If possible, arrive a few minutes early so we can all get acquainted.
• Written homework, due 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20 (NEXT week):
  • Ex. 3.5.40, p. 186.
  • Ex. 3.5.16, p. 192.
  • Ex. 3.5.64, p. 193.

For Week 6 (Feb. 18-22)

• Remember that you have until Sunday (2/17) to finish
  • automated homework 4;
  • formative course survey.
• Read Secs. 3.6-3.9.
• Come back here for the lecture.
• Written homework, due 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27:
  • Ex. 3.6.44, p. 199.
  • Ex. 3.7.16, p. 203.
  • Ex. 3.8.42, p. 209.
  • Ex. 3.9.24, p. 214.

For Week 7 (Feb. 25-29)

• Remember that our evening on-line session is now on Tuesday (starting Feb. 26).
• Read Secs. 3.10-3.12.
• Come back here for the lecture ._._. Maple sessions on differentials and Newton's method.
• What some students taught me about related rates and vectors
• Pages 69-70 of the Maple supplement deal with Newton's method. (See the Maple demonstration session accompanying the lecture.)
• Written homework, due 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 5:
  • Special bonus essay problem: Look at Example 2, p. 216. What is dy/dx at the moment when the top of the ladder hits the ground (y=0)? Do you believe that answer? If not, what's going on here?? You might try an experiment with a small ladder (say a ruler).
  • Ex. 3.10.18, p. 220.
  • Ex. 3.11.16, p. 227.
  • Ex. 3.12.24, p. 233.

For Week 8 (March 3-7)

• Note the announcement above about (lack of) recitation sections.
• Read Secs. 4.1 and 4.2. (This is the last material that will be on the exam on March 20.)
• Come back here for the lecture.
• No written homework will be due on March 19, because of the test. Of course, you should know how to do problems involving exponentials and inverse functions for the test; look at the "Suggested homework problems" page.

For Week 9 (March 17-21)

• On-line recitation sections resume on Tuesday evening, March 18, and Wednesday afternoon, March 19.
• Exam on Thursday evening, March 20, covers through Section 4.2.
• Read Secs. 4.3 and 4.4.
• Come back here for the lecture.
• More fun with logarithms!
• Written homework due on March 26:
  • Ex. 4.3.62, p. 262.
  • Ex. 4.3.84, p. 263.
  • Ex. 4.4.30, p. 269.

For Week 10 (March 24-28)

• NO on-line recitation section on Tuesday evening, March 25.
• Read Secs. 4.5, 4.6, and 4.8.
• Come back here for the lecture.
• Read about the 0⁰ controversy related to l'Hospital's rule.
• Read about why you should read Sec. 4.7 too. (If you don't yet know what integrals are, come back here after Chapters 5 and 6.) (Note: No matter what I think about it, hyperbolic functions will not be on the next common exam and such obscure trig functions as csc^-1 may be.)
• Written homework due on April 2:
  • Ex. 4.5.6, p. 275.
  • Ex. 4.6.38, p. 282.
  • Ex. 4.8.46, p. 295.
  • Ex. 4.8.78, p. 296.

For Week 11 (March 31 - April 4)

• NO on-line recitation section on Tuesday evening, April 1.
• Read Secs. 5.1-3.
• Come back here for the lecture.
• Finish reading about l'Hospital's rule and 0⁰ if you didn't already (see above -- I posted all that rather late last week).
• Written homework due on April 9:
  • Ex. 5.1.8, p. 305.
  • Ex. 5.2.12, p. 313.
  • Ex. 5.2.44, p. 313.
  • Ex. 5.3.22, p. 324.
  • Ex. 5.3.32, p. 324.

For Week 12 (April 7-11)

• Read Secs. 5.5 and 5.7.
• Come back here for the lecture.
• It won't hurt you to read Secs. 5.4 and 5.6 too, although they are not on the syllabus.
• Written homework due on April 16:
  • Ex. 5.5.30, p. 337.
  • Ex. 5.5.36, p. 338.
  • Ex. 5.7.10, p. 353.
  • Ex. 5.7.44, p. 354.

For Week 13 (April 14-18)

• Read Secs. 6.1-2 and start on 6.3.
• Come back here for the lecture.
• No written homework this week (would have been due 4/23).
• No evening recitation section this week (4/15).
• E-mail me about your final exam schedule! If we do not settle this by email before the common exam (4/22), we will need to take time to do it AT that exam.

For Week 14 (April 21-25)

• EXAM TUESDAY evening, usual time and place. This test covers through Sec. 6.2. It is weighted more heavily than the previous exams. For that reason, there will be slightly more multiple-choice questions (so not so many points are at risk on each question).
• Read Secs. 6.3-4.
• Come back here for the lecture. (It's now finished. I inserted the Parable of the Speedometer on slides 18--19.)
• No more written homework. (Our grader's contract will expire after this week.)

For Week 15 (April 28-- May 2)

• Read Sec. 6.5.
• Come back here for the lecture.
• I will keep normal Monday/Friday office hours on Monday and Tuesday. I can't guarantee I will be in the office Wednesday or Thursday except by appointment.
• Final exam is FRIDAY at 10:00 a.m., BLOC 110.

Go to home pages: Fulling ._._. Calclab ._._. Math Dept ._._. University

e-mail: fulling@math.tamu.edu ._._. hannah.saugier@gmail.com