Deptartment of Mathematics

          Welcome to Math 131: Calculus I
          NOTE: THIS IS AN OLD SYLLABUS:  Fall 2010    xxx


Text   Calculus: Concepts and Contexts (4th edition) by James Stewart
There is also a Student Solutions Manual available.  The solutions manual is completely optional.
Information about options for purchasing or renting these books.

We will cover approximately Chapters 2 - 5.5 in Math 131; next semester, Calculus II (Math 132) starts with a brief
review of the first part of Chapter 5 and then continues through Chapter 10.


Instructor Information

Prof. Ron Freiwald  rf@math.wustl.edu              
Cupples I, 203A  ( 314-935-6737 )                      
Office Hours:  M 2:30-3:30, Tu 11-12, W 3:30-4:30 on days when University classes are in session.  Please feel free to stop by with questions. You are also welcome to stop by at other times when I'm in my office.  If it's not a good time for me, then we can probably schedule an appointment for a time that works for both of us. 

I also check my e-mail a few times each day and will try to  answer quick questions as soon as I can (but e-mail is tedious to discuss anything that's complicated or that involves a lot of math notation).

Anonymous Feedback to Prof. Freiwald   You can use this link if you'd like to make a suggestion anonymously. Of course, I'm not able to respond, and not every suggestion will be something that I agree with.  But the feedback can be helpful.  I'll keep this link here as long as it's used responsibly.


Necessary Background for Calculus I 

It's essential that your understanding of precalculus material (algebra and trig) be in good working order.  As a good check on yourself, you might want to:
  • Look at the Diagnostic Tests A,B,C,D in the textbook on pp. xxiv - xxviii.  
  • Look through the material in Chapter 1, Sections 1.1-1.6 during the first several days of the course. This is all precalculus material and you should be comfortable with most of it.  On the "Daily Assignments" page I'll suggest some material to review each day for the first week or so.  We will begin the course with Section 1.7 -- a precalculus topic that some of you might not be amiliar with.  
  • If you need to review, the Appendices A, B, and C at the back of the book summarize some important precalculus topics -- especially a quick review of trigonometry in Appendix C.
If you find yourself stuck on some topic in precalculus, please stop by and we can talk about it.

You do not need to know any calculus already, although some of you probably do.  If you do, then use what you know to try to be helpful to others in the class and be sure you don't get overconfident.  If you''re already familiar with some topic, then use the time to work on developing mastery of it. 
.

Lectures and Discussion Sections  

You should be registered for one of the two lecture sections for the course:

  • Section 1: MWF 10-11, in Wilson Hall, Room 214, or
  • Section 2: MWF 12-1 ,  in Wilson Hall, Room 214
W.U. classes actually begin at seven minutes after the hour and end on the hour. Please try to avoid late arrivals and early departures which can distract other students. 

The two sections will be following the same lecture "schedule," but inevitably they will be a little out of synch with each other day-to-day. It's OK to attend the other section (the one you're not registered for) now and then when something special comes up in your schedule, but otherwise you should probably try to stick with the same section.

You are responsible for any material covered (whether or not in the textbook) and for any announcements made in class.  If you must be absent, check with a responsible friend to see what you missed.

You should also be registered in one of the Discussion Sections (A - I) which meet at various times on Thursday.  Your discussion section has its first meeting on Thursday, September 9.   More detail about discussion sections is below.

Imporant Links for Immediate Attention

Daily Assignments Page  This is the master calendar for the course. In it you'll find the day-to-day schedule, recommended homework problems (not to be turned in), reminders about upcoming quizzes, exams and Webwork.

Thursday Discussion Sections and Quizzes 

Webwork: Required Homework

Consider the (optional) PLTL Study Group Program: Message from the Cordinator


Additional Links and Course Bulletin Board                                          Math 131 Bulletin Board
Academic Integrity
What is Calculus About?
Advice for Success
Suggestions about Daily Homework
Resources for Help
Anonymous Feedback to your TA

Calculators in Math 131
In-Semester and Final Exams
Old Exams Online
Grading for the Course

End of Semester: Online Course Evaluations

Taking Calculus Elsewhere in Summer School

What Could I Do If I Majored in Math?
Math Undergraduate Page: Information About Math Majors and Minors
Web Pages for Math Students

A Math History Site
                           
Final grades for the course have been posted.  An e-mail was sent to all class members describing how grades were determined.  You can check for final total numeric score in Telesis, and your letter grade via WebStac.

All unclaimed papers and exam booklets (except for the final exam booklet) are available, if you want to pick them up, in a cabinet along the wall in the first floor hallway of Cupples I.  The cabinet is about midway down the hallway and has a "Math 131" sign on the wall above it (above the bulletin board).  
he booklets are placed in "pigeonholes" labeled "A", "B", ..."Z" according to the first letter of your last name.  After you pick out your exam, please be sure to return the remaining exams to correct pigeonhole.  And look carefully at the name printed on the booklet: try not to take somebody else's copy.

I will keep final exam booklets and answer cards in my office.  If you think there might have been a card-marking error, you can stop by my office to check up until Monday, January 28, 2011.  After that all unclaimed booklets and earlier papers from the course will be discarded.


                                 
Exam 4 (Final Exam) Solutions

                                         HAPPY HOLIDAYS

   ________________________________________________________________

FINAL EXAMINATION FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2010, 10:30 AM -12:30 PM
(NOT AN EVENING EXAM).

LOCATIONS WILL BE POSTED SHORTLY BEFORE THE EXAM,AS USUAL, AT THE  EXAM SEATS LOOKUP page.

The final exam will not contain a hand-graded section (since there's a quick required turnaround time to submit course grades to the College).  It will consist of 18 multiple choice questions  worth 5 points each, and 10 t/f questions each worth 1 point.

The exam will cover all the course material, but more emphasis will be placed on the material since Exam 3 (that is, starting with Section 4.8 and through the end of the course with Section 5.5). I might add a bit more detail to this paragraph after I finish writing the exam.

As always, you can have one 3x5 notecard (two sides) with any notes you like, and you should bring a simple scientific calculator (no graphing calculators allowed).
Be sure you have set your calculator to function in RADIAN MODE; if it's in DEGREE MODE, you may get incorrect answers when trig functions are involved.  (Test what mode your in: ask your calculator to find sin 90: if the answer is 1, then you're in degree mode).

As always, see
Resources for Help to see what's available that you might want to use.

There will be FOUR Q&A Sessions that you can attend, if you like, as part of your preparation.  These sessions are completely optional.  Some people might find them helpdful and others not.  In order to keep some focus during these sessions, each meeting will concentrate on questions related to the material we covered in just one chapter of the course.

Monday, December 13, 5-6:30 pm: Q/A on Chapter 2 (by Marina Dombrovskaya),
in Brown 118

Tuesday, December 14, 5-6:30 pm: Q/A on Chapter 3 (by Brady Rocks),
in Cupples I 115.

Wednesday, December 15, 5-6:30 pm: Q/A on Chapter 4 (by Matt Wallace),
in Cupples I 115

Thursday, December 16, 5-6:30 pm: Q/A on Chapter 5 (by Ron Freiwald),
in Duncker 101

Among the Old Exams Online, I recommend the Spring 2004 exams as good ones to look at -- just because the author (not me) wrote questions in a similar style to many of mine.   The final for Sp 2004 is a good review set of problems (although that exam has a lot of hand-written problems--possible because 131 is a relatively small class in the spring semester).  The Fall 2009 Final Exam is also a good set of review problems. These old exams are a good check on what you know -- but of course they don't necessarily cover everything that's on our exam.