Fall 2011 - Math E-21a weekly topics and assignments
Assignments will be updated as the course proceeds. Check back each week after class.
[last updated Wednesday, December 14, 2011 0:05 AM]
| Date | Topics | Homework assignments (4th Ed.) | ||||||||
| Thurs, Sept 1 Class #1 |
Introduction to R2 and R3; points vs. vectors; sum of vectors, scalar multiplication; difference vector; length of a vector; distance between points; unit vectors. Equations for circles and spheres; vector and parametric equations of a line in R2 and in R3. |
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| Thurs, Sept 8 Class #2 |
Dot product in R2, R3 and its algebraic and geometric properties. Scalar and vector projections. Equations of lines and planes in R3 and their intersections. The cross product in R3 and its algebraic and geometric properties, triple scalar product. Applications to distance, area, volume. |
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| Thurs, Sept 15 Class #3 |
Cross product, triple scalar product, continued. Equations vs. parameterizations. Brief survey of functions, graphs, and surfaces. Vector-valued functions - parameterized curves in R2 and R3. Velocity vectors. |
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| Note: If you have access to mathematical software such as Mathematica or Matlab or Maple, you might try graphing some of the functions in section 9.6 and some of the curves in 10.1-10.2 on the computer. | ||||||||||
| Thurs, Sept 22 Class #4 |
Velocity and acceleration vectors (10.2); arclength, unit tangent vector, curvature, unit normal vector (10.3). Examples of parameterized surfaces in R3 (10.5) and “velocity vectors” tangent to curves on these surfaces. Functions of several variables; graph of a function of two variables (11.1); partial derivatives (part of 11.3); tangent plane to the graph of a function (looking ahead - part of 11.4). |
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| Thurs, Sept 29 Class #5 |
Functions of several variables; graphs and level curves (contours) of a function of two variables (11.1). Limits and continuity (11.2). Partial derivatives and differentiability (11.3); linear approximation; tangent plane to the graph of a function of two variables (11.4). Rate of change of a function along a parameterized curve, the basic Chain Rule, directional derivatives and the gradient vector (11.5 and 11.6). |
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| Thurs, Oct 6 Class #6 |
Gradients and normal vectors (11.6); General Chain Rule (11.5); implicit differentiation (11.5); higher order partial derivatives (11.3); equality of mixed partial derivatives - Clairaut's Theorem (11.3). Midterm Exam 1 |
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| Thurs, Oct 13 Class #7 |
Quadratic approximation (11.7); unconstrained optimization - finding maximum and minimum values of functions of two or more variables, 2nd Derivative Test for stationary points of a function of two variables (11.7); constrained optimization and the Method of Lagrange Multipliers (11.8). Extreme values of a continuous function defined on a bounded region. |
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| Thurs, Oct 20 Class #8 |
Method of Lagrange Multipliers, continued; examples of unconstrained and constrained optimization in economics; Method of Least Squares; multiple constraints. Introduction to integration over regions in R2. | HW8: Read sections 11.8 and 12.1 (and maybe read ahead in 12.2-12.3). HW #8 problems (PDF) - due Thurs, Oct 27 |
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| Thurs, Oct 27 Class #9 |
Multiple integrals in the calculation of area, volume, mass, population, and average value of a function. Iterated integrals; changing order of integration in an iterated integral; and the Fubini Theorem. Use of polar coordinates in calculating double integrals. Geometric center of a region (centroid) and center of mass. Triple integrals in Cartesian coordinates and calculation by successive slicing. |
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| Thurs, Nov 3 Class #10 |
Triple integrals, continued. Applications of triple integrals: average value, centroid, mass, center of mass, and weighted averages. Triple integrals in cylindrical and spherical coordinates. |
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| Thurs, Nov 10 Class #11 |
General change of variables in multiple integrals. Vector fields in R2 and R3; line integrals and work done by a variable force along a parameterized curve. Calculation of line integrals. Fundamental Theorem of Line Integrals, independence of path, conservative vector fields. Test to determine if a vector field is conservative. [Supplement] There's a good java-based tool for showing vector fields and flows in R2 at http://math.rice.edu/~dfield/dfpp.html. Choose the PPLANE option. You can enter new x and y component functions for the vector field or change the size of the window. To see a trajectory (flow), just click on a point in the phase-plane. |
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| Thurs, Nov 17 Class #12 |
Fundamental Theorem of Line Integrals, independence of path, conservative vector fields. Test to determine if a vector field is conservative and finding potential functions. Green's Theorem; equivalent statements about conservative vector fields; divergence and curl of a vector field. Midterm Exam 2 |
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| Thurs, Dec 1 Class #13 |
Parameterized surfaces in R3; integration on parameterized surfaces; surface area. Calculation of surface integrals by parameterization and by using available coordinates for spheres, cylinders, projectable surfaces and graphs, and general method for any parameterized surface. Flux of a vector field through a surface. Statement of the Divergence Theorem and worked example. Supplement on integration on surfaces - toolkits for spheres, cylinders, graphs, and any parameterized surface (this may be expanded later and better drawings included). |
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| Thurs, Dec 8 Class #14 |
Statement of five versions of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, including Stokes' Theorem and the Divergence Theorem. Examples. Geometric definitions of divergence and curl, and derivation of algebraic definitions from the geometric definitions. Proofs of the Divergence Theorem and Stokes' Theorem from these geometric definitions. Proof of Green’s Theorem from Stokes’ Theorem. |
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| Thurs, Dec 15 | FINAL EXAM in Emerson Hall, Room 105. This will be a 2-hour exam. |
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