You may wish to bookmark the course website: http://math.hws.edu/~mitchell/Math131F04/index.html where I will post most of the course documents.
About Math 131
First-year calculus is usually divided into two parts (terms): differential calculus and integral calculus. Briefly, differential calculus is concerned with rates of change ("the slope problem") and integral calculus is concerned with area, in particular the area enclosed by arbitrary curves. The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus shows how these different concerns are essentially the two faces of a single coin. Having completed a "tour" of differential calculus, you are now prepared to focus on integral calculus.To prove the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus requires us to connect the process of antidifferentiation to the notion of area under a curve. You know how to find the areas of some regions: squares, rectangles, triangles (using triangles you can figure out the area of any polygon), and circles. While you might be able to justify the area formula for a rectangle, it is unlikely that you could give a satisfactory proof for the area formula of a circle. In fact, there is a more fundamental problem here: What is area?
In differential calculus, the motivating problem was the paradoxical notion of an
"instantaneous" rate of change. What do we mean by speed "at an instant?" Average rates or
speeds are familiar ideas: divide distance by time. But in an instant, no time passes and
no distance is
travelled. So there is no (rate of) change! We resolved the paradox by using average
rates of change over smaller and smaller time intervals. In the end, the instantaneous
rate of change (or derivative) was defined to be the limit of average
rates of change. But note, the concept of an "instantaneous" rate had to be defined
through a fairly long process and was not "obvious."
In the same way, area, though familiar, is not an obvious notion. Some area formulas are familiar, but what is area? What are its defining characteristics? We will start with this problem and see that its solution has a wide variety of applications. In learning how to find area, we will also learn how to find or define the length of a curve, the volume of a solid, the work done by a force applied over a distance, and so on.
As with derivatives, limits will be crucial to the solution of the "integral" or area
problem. This time the "paradox" will be that we add up lots of (i.e., an infinite
number in the limit) of small (0-sized in the limit) areas to obtain the area of a
figure. There are lots of questions to resolve: How do you add an infinite number of
things? How do you divide a region up into smaller pieces whose area you know? Answers
to such questions are what will motivate our "definition" of area.
Text
The Department of Mathematics selected the Larson, Hostetler, and Edwards's calculus text for this course for a variety of reasons. The text is concise and yet still readable. It focuses on the concepts of calculus, not just the algebraic and formulaic manipulations. The central ideas or theorems of the course require justification or "proof". Though this course will not be overly theoretical, there will be several arguments or proofs that I want you to understand. I will help you with them, but carefully read through them in the text. It's a very "readable" text, so please spend lots of time with it! Long after most of you have forgotten the "rules of integration," I hope you still remember what the process of integration is and how it is used. The text comes with a cd and a Study Guide/Solutions Manual. You are encouraged to use them!Labs
Every Thursday our section will meet for a problem solving laboratory. Attendance is required. These labs are an excellent time for you to ask questions about the course material. Bring your text and notes. Most students find lab sessions very helpful. The last 15 minutes of some labs will be an open book, open note quiz based on the work you have done that day and which you must complete on your own. Selected Problems from each lab may be collected and graded.Assessment
Homework, reading, and practice exercises will be assigned at the beginning of each class. I encourage working in small groups on practice problems. This can be very helpful in understanding the material.Once or twice a week, there will be an assignment consisting of selected problems to hand in for grading. In the past, I have insisted that graded assignments are to be your own work without collaboration. But this term, I will try something different. You may work on graded homework assignments with others. Please do not simply copy each other's work. Make sure you write up your answers on your own. Your work will be due at the beginning of the next class. No late assignments, please.
I will also use some announced 10-minute quizzes to check on your progress in the course.
There will be three hour tests and a final exam. The dates are listed in the outline below. Tests will be cumulative but will concentrate on more recent material. It is impossible to construct fair makeup exams in mathematics. For your own protection, my policy is that there are no makeup examinations. If for some extraordinary reason you find you are unable to take an exam, let me know as soon as possible, certainly well before the exam is administered.
Your course grade will be calculated as follows. First I will
make a list of your grades: Homework and Quiz Scores Combined, Test 1, Test 2, Test 3,
Final Exam, Final Exam. Note: The final exam is listed twice. Next, I will
toss out the lowest score. (If the final is your lowest grade, it is removed just
once.) Then I will average the remaining five grades.
I also reserve the right to take class participation and attendance into
account in determining final grades.
Attendance and Courtesy
Because of the nature of this course, its assignments, and its assessment, your attendance and participation is crucial. Mathematics is learned by regular, sustained, attentive effort over an extended period. Only when such effort has been invested will the concentrated study for an exam have any benefit. Therefore, attendance at class is required. Unexcused absences may adversely affect your grade; certainly more than three absences will lower your grade. I use the following split function to determine how your grade is affected by the number of absences, where x is the number of classes missed and Adj(x) is the adjustment to your final grade.
Adj(x) = 1.5 - 0.5x, if 0 <= x <= 4
3.5 - x, if x > 4.
If you must miss a class for some reason beyond your control,
talk to me about it in advance.
Finally, common courtesy demands that you be on time for class and that
you do not leave the room during class (unless you are ill). This will help you, your
classmates, and me to give our full attention to the course.
Caution
Calculus I is a prerequisite for this course. If you did not pass Math 130 or its equivalent with a grade of C- or better, this course is inappropriate for you and you should see me immediately. Thus, I assume that you understand how to use the notions of limit and derivative and are familiar with their applications and interpretations. To be successful in this course, you must be able to build on a solid understanding of differential calculus. Again, if you are concerned about your background, see me immediately!Math Interns
Remember that the Math Interns are available on the third floor of Lansing Hall for extra help during the day and the evenings. Their office hours are listed at the beginning of this document. Please utilize this extra resource.Tips for Success
Here are a few simple things that you can do to be more successful in the course- Come to all classes.
- Do the readings and practice problems carefully.
- Keep the answers to problems and notes on the readings in a journal.
- Review the notes from the last class before coming to class again. In fact,
I suggest recopying the notes! This makes studying for a test easy.
- Come in for help whenever you need it, preferably before you get too far behind.
- Visit the Math Interns for help in the evenings.
- Review some of the lab questions once a week.
- Ask questions in class. Ask questions about the homework and readings.
Outline of Weekly Readings
This assumes a fairly rapid pace through the listed materials. We may need to adjust this schedule based on our actual work in class.- August 30-September 3: Introduction, Antiderivatives, Summation Notation, the Area Problem.
4.1, 4.2.
- September 6-10: Riemann Sums, The Definite Integral, and The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. Chapter 4.3-4.4.
- September 13-17: Integrals using Substitution, Log Functions. If time permits: Numerical Integration.
Chapter 4.5 and 4.7 (4.6).
- September 20-22: Inverse Trig Functions (Triangle Substitution). Chapter 4.8, Handout.
- Friday, September 24: First Hour Test.
- September 27-October 1: Differential Equations: Growth and Decay, Separation of Variables. Chapter 5.1-5.2.
- October 4-8: First Order Linear Differential Equations. Applications: Area Between Curves. Chapter 5.3, 6.1.
- October 13-15: Applications: Volumes. Chapter 6.2-6.3.
- October 18-22: Applications: Volume, Work. Chapter 6.3, 6.5.
- Monday, October 25: Second Hour Test.
- October 27-29: Application: Arc Length, Integration Techniques: Parts. Chapter 6.4, 7.2 (Review 7.1).
- November 1-5: Integration Techniques: Parts, Trig Integrals. Chapter 7.2-7.3.
- November 8-12: Integration Techniques: Trig Substitution, Partial Fractions. Chapter 7.4-7.5.
- November 15-19: Using Integral Tables. L'Hopital's Rule. Improper Integrals. Chapter 7.6-7.7
- Monday, November 22: Third Hour Test.
- November 29-December 3: Sequences, Series. Chapter 8.1, 8.2
- December 6-10: Tests for Convergence: Integral Test, Comparison Test. Chapter 8.3-8.4
- Final Exam December 15 at 1:30 PM.