Calculus III (MATH 231) - Spring, 2008

Class periods: 10:00-10:50pm MTWF, TH316

Instructor: Mei Q. Chen

Office: Thompson Hall 328

E-mail: chenm

Phone: 953-7896 (office), 577-9868 (home)

URL:http://macs.citadel.edu/~chenm/231.dir/08sp.dir/syl.html


Course Goals:
The students will become familiar with multi-variable arithmetic and calculus, and learn to apply them to solve problems arising in their science or engineering courses. This includes an understanding of the limitations of the standard formulas and procedures, an ability to decide when and how to apply them, and the technical skills required for their implementation.

To achieve this purpose a student will be expected the following:

  1. Learn to perform vector arithmetic, particularly dot, vector and triple products, and understand their geometric interpretations.
  2. Develop the ability to envision 3-dimensional objects in order to solve linear problems in space.
  3. Become familiar with the use of polar, cylindrical, and spherical coordinates. This includes the transition between different coordinate systems and the description of objects in the plane or in space by means of these coordinate systems.
  4. Learn to parameterize plane and space curves, to recognize a curve from a given parameterization, and to model motion problems.
  5. Become familiar with the calculus of curves, including curve length and related notions.
  6. Understand and use the geometric relevance of partial and total derivatives, be able to find gradients and tangent planes for smooth surfaces.
  7. Learn to compute multiple integrals by means of different coordinate systems. This includes setting up the limits and choosing an appropriate order of integration.
  8. Learn how to apply multiple integration to problems in physics or engineering.

Textbook: Calculus, Third edition, by Robert Smith and Roland Minton


Course Content: Sections 10-14.4 will be covered and please see the course outline/lecture notes for details.


Grading: It is based on homework assignments, quizzes, four hour exams and a comprehensive final exam.

      February 1, February 22, March 14, and April 11.

Exams are designed to test your understanding of the mathematical concepts and computational procedures, and your problem solving skills for the topics covered in this course.

Current Grades.


Office Hours

 

(1) Office Hours:
      2:00-3:30pm, MTWF, TH 328 or by appointment

(2) ESP Study/Help Sessions
      8:00pm-9:30pm MR, TH 317 or TH 328


 

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