| Course Forum: |
We will be using Piazza as a forum for class discussion.
For technical prolems with that site email
team@piazza.com
|
| Course Content: |
From the catalog:
Vector algebra and solid analytic geometry; calculus of functions of several
variables; Lagrange multipliers; multiple integration, theory, methods and
application; line and surface integrals, Green's and Stokes' theorems;
Jacobians.
Prerequisites. Math 152 or Math 172 or consent of
instructor.
|
| Pace: |
In multivariate Calculus (in colloquial slang "Calc 3"), the material comes rather fast, and its difficulty rises
markedly with each chapter.
The first, vectors and some geometry in R3, is a basis for what comes later.
We next study differential calculus in 2- and 3- variables, culminating in the fundamentally useful method of Lagrange
multipliers for constrained optimization.
Then integration with more than one variable.
A saving grace of these middle topics is that differentiation and integration are carried out "one variable at a
time", so it is only a mild generalization of your previous two semesters.
The same cannot quite be said about the last topic, which is best to think of as the fundamental theorem of calculus
in this new setting.
This last bit, conservative vector fields, as well as the theorems of Green, Stokes, and Gauß, point to further
concepts in higher mathematics in a way that you may not have seen before.
All of these concepts, while delivered in the familiar R2 and R3, have a
straightforward generalization to all (finite) dimensions.
I always cover all these topics, in full, so strap yourselves in for a ride this semester.
|
| Honors: |
While the previous section on Pace mentioned some slightly advanced aspects of my course, I want to further
point out that this course will meet the enhanced learning objectives of an honors course by the use of richer
homework assignments and higher–level lectures, as well as a few special lectures of mathematical enrichment.
|
| Special Note: |
Your goal in this course, as in every course that you ever
take, should be a complete mastery of the material. Anything less is
aspiring to mediocrity and doing yourself a disservice.
I expect you to read the section in the text that we will be covering
before we meet.
Come to class ready to ask questions about what you do not yet know.
After class, re-read the text and your notes,
and do some exercises to complete your mastery of the material.
Finally, ask questions in class, lots of them.
|
| Calculator: |
There will be no use of calculators on exams.
|
| Course webpage: |
http://www.math.tamu.edu/~sottile/teaching/23.2/221H.html
|
Late homeworks are not accepted.
While it may not be possible to mark all problems assigned,
you should hand in all the assigned problems as
a random selection of the problems will be corrected, graded,
and recorded for your homework score.
The two lowest homework scores will be dropped before
computing your grade.
Zeroth Assignment : Read this web
page, sign up on Piazza and send me a private post on Piazza that you have
read and understood the course descriptions and policies.
Please also answer the following questions:
(1) Why are you taking this course?
(2) What do you hope to get out of this course?
(3) Is there anything else that you want to tell me (that is relevant to the course)?
email: sottile@tamu.edu
