Appendix C of the textbook has a useful primer on some of the mathematical skills you will need in this course. Please also read our writeup on further skills we will find ourselves using, and a description of what we mean when we say that you should write full explanations of your answers.
Homework assignments, and their solutions, will be posted on this page.
Homework #1 is due Thursday. February 14 in class.
Solutions to Homework #1.
Homework #2 is due Tuesday, February 26 in class.
Solutions to Homework #2.
Homework #3 is due Thursday, March 6 in class.
Solutions to Homework #3.
A summary of how to study for the midterm.
The curve has been set from the combination of your first three
homeworks and the midterm. Each student is given a score based on
these assignmnents, ranging from 0 to 100. The median for the class
was 90. The following is the curve for the course:
F : Below 56
D : Between 56 and 68
C-: Between 68 and 72
C : Between 72 and 76
C+: Between 76 and 80
B-: Between 80 and 84
B : Between 84 and 88
B+: Between 88 and 91
A-: Between 91 and 94
A : Between 94 and 98.5
A+: Above 98.5
The registrar requires that we report an interim grade for each
student at this point in the semester. The following are the number
of students receiving each grade:
3 F's
6 D's
6 C-'s
2 C's
13 C+'s
22 B-'s
19 B's
26 B+'s
26 A-'s
49 A's
12 A+'s
With this information, you know exactly what you need to do in the second half of the semester to get the final grade you want. It is worth knowing that in previous years, most of the students doing poorly at this stage in the course were able to improve their performance substantially in the second half of the course.
Homework #4 is due Tuesday, April 8 in class.
Solutions to Homework #4.
Homework #5 is due Thursday, April 17 in class.
Solutions to Homework #5.
Homework #6 is due Thursday, May 1 in class. There are two figures accompanying the homework; make sure to get those as well.
Solutions to Homework #6, together with the accompanying figure.
Notes on studying for the final.