ANNOUNCEMENTS
MTH 254 - Winter 2005

3/18/05

Below are the answers to the final. An answer key is posted outside my office; grades will be submitted Monday (and will therefore probably not available online until Tuesday). You can collect your exam from me next term if you wish.

1. (need figure)

2. (a) 4 (b) 0 (c) 0 (d) 2k

3. (need figure)

4. a_T=0, a_N=12

5. 0

6. max is 16, min is -2

7. (all answers approximate) (a) 50 m (b) NW (c) 1/2 (d) (0,11/10) (e) (0,3/5)

8. (a) (2i + j + 2k)/3 (b) 3 deg/ft (c) 0 deg/ft

9. (a) (3i+4j)/5 (b) 10/3 (c) straight

3/4/05

My last office hour will be Monday afternoon, 3/7. For assistance between then and the final, please contact Corina.

Corina will hold extra office hours Monday and Tuesday of finals week at 1 PM.

3/2/05

The final will be on Wednesday, 3/16/05, at noon in Kidder 364.

• The final will be slightly less than twice as long as the midterm
• It will cover material from the entire course, but with an emphasis on material since the midterm.
• The main new topics are:
  • partial differentiation;
  • optimization;
  • curves.
• The new material corresponds roughly to §14 (but not §14.8), §15, and §17.1-§17.2, and to Lessons 6-11 & 19-22 in the Study Guide (which you can use to find the relevant sections in Stewart).
• Note that some of the material in Lessons 19-22 is not discussed in MHG.
• The old material is described below in the midterm announcement.
• If you are looking for extra problems to practice on, the Exercises and Check your Understanding questions at the end of each chapter are especially good.
• You may bring four 3″×5″ index cards (both sides) of handwritten notes, or the equivalent.
• Friday's lecture will be devoted to review. Come prepared to ask questions!
• Other rules are as announced below for the midterm.

2/22/05

Here are the answers to today's quiz:

1. (a) 10xy³ (b) 2r cosφ (c) x cos(xy) (d) y² i + 2xy j + 3z² k

2. -2

3. (a) 0 (b) 2^1/2

2/14/05

The second quiz will be in recitation on Tuesday, 2/22. It covers the material through Friday's class (2/18), namely partial derivatives, including the gradient, directional derivatives, and the chain rule. This material corresponds roughly to §14 in MHG and §14.3-§14.6 in (the thick version of) Stewart.

2/5/05

Below are the answers to the midterm. An answer key will be posted outside my office by Monday, and the exams will be returned on Tuesday.

1. (a) True (b) True (c) True (d) False

2. (a) True (b) True (c) False

3. (a) positive (b) need more info (c) negative

4. (a) Use rectangular dV; limits are [0,2], [0,3], [0,5] (b) Use spherical dV; limits are [0,π/4], [0,π], [0,5]

(Many other answers are possible.)

5. 9

6. 2^3/2-1

7. 112 π/3

EC: 162 π grams

1/27/05

The midterm will be Friday 2/4/05 in class.

• The main topics to be covered on the midterm are:
  • basic vector manipulations;
  • ways of representing functions (especially contour diagrams);
  • multiple integration.
• These topics correspond roughly to §12 (but not §12.4), §13, and §16.1-§16.5 in MHG, and to Lessons 1-5 & 12-18 in the Study Guide (which you can use to find the relevant sections in Stewart).
• As previously discussed, you are strongly encouraged to work the Exercises and Check your Understanding questions in MHG.
• The exam is closed book, and calculators may not be used.
• You may bring two 3″×5″ index cards (both sides) of handwritten notes.
• Please write your exams in pencil or black ink (blue ink is OK).
• Please turn off all electronic devices, such as cell phones and alarms; this also includes personal music players.
• Both Tuesday's recitation and Wednesday's lecture will be devoted to review. Come prepared to ask questions!

1/26/05

A copy of the pages from MHG needed to do the weekly homework should be available on the bulletin board outside my office as soon as the assignment is posted online, which is usually a week before the due date.

1/18/05

Here are the answers to today's quiz:

1. (a) vector (b) undefined

2. True

3. One of many possible answers: 4i-3j and k

4. 3

5. (need drawing)

1/17/05

The grading policy clearly states that a 3″×5″ index card of notes is permitted on all exams. Yes, this includes quizes.

1/14/05

You can find out more about the reasons for the choices discussed in class today for the names of the spherical coordinates in our paper:

Spherical Coordinates, Tevian Dray and Corinne A. Manogue, College Math. J. 34, 168-169 (2003)

a copy of which is posted on my bulletin board. The short answer is that most students will need to switch conventions at some point during their education, so this might as well be done sooner rather than later.

1/13/05

The first quiz will be in recitation on Tuesday, 1/18. It covers the material through Wednesday's class (1/12/05), namely vectors, and especially the dot and cross products. This material corresponds roughly to §13 in MHG and §12 in (the thick version of) Stewart.

1/12/05

The homework assignment has changed slightly (new problems from §13.4). Make sure you get the updated assignment.

1/6/05

As of 7 PM this evening, the library does have the text on reserve.

1/5/05

JAVA applets which illustrate the geometry of the dot and cross products can be found at the sites below:

Dot product;

Cross product.

Further information about vectors, including the dot and cross products, can be found here.

1/3/05

As announced at the beginning of class today, there may be a section of MathExcel for MTH 254. This is a 2-credit, attendance-based problem session, with a proven track record of improving students' math grades, not just in this course, but in subsequent coursework. Further information about the history of MathExcel can be found here.

MathExcel for MTH 254 is scheduled as MTH 299, Section 254, meeting Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-5:20 PM in Kidder 108H.

If you are interested, please attend the first session; this class may not run if too few students enroll.

1/2/05

The grading scheme was significantly revised today.

11/4/04

I will not follow any of the textbooks exactly, although my approach to calculus is closer to that in MHG (McCallum, Hughes Hallett, Gleason et al) than to Stewart.

• MHG will be the text for MTH 255 in Spring 2005, which I will teach.
• If you already have a copy of Stewart, it does provide an adequate reference for the material we will cover, although you may wish to purchase MHG also.
• If you don't yet have a text, MHG is strongly recommended.
• If you want Stewart as well, and don't already have the larger, Early Transcendentals edition, the smaller, Multivariable edition is quite sufficient.

In any case, the MTH 254 Study Guide provides a useful summary of some of the material, as well as suggested homework problems, and is inexpensive. It is not required, but is definitely helpful.