Prof. Nyikos's Office: LeConte 406. Phone: 7-5134
Email: nyikos @ math.sc.edu
The textbook for this course is Thomas's Calculus: Early Transcendentals by Thomas, Weir, and Hass, 13th edition. Contrary to what may be on the bookstore webpage for this course, you do not need any website access package for my section.
There is a multivariable version containing only those parts of the text which are needed for this course. I haven't seen them in the Barnes and Noble bookstore, but they can be ordered online at e.g., Amazon.com
Caution. The university bookstore is selling a version of the textbook that is tailor-made for the University of South Carolina by omitting some sections that the calculus sequence here does not cover. The advantage is that the cost of buying the textbook is much less than if you buy online [except for used textbooks.] The downsides are:
In addition, sections 11.1, 11.2, 11.3 and 11.4 may be reviewed as needed. The course begins with 12.1, which is important for getting a feel for a three-dimensional coordinate system.
The most emphasis will be on Chapters 14 and 15. The material in Chapter 13 is covered more thoroughly in Math 550 and/or Math 551, while the Chapter 16 material is covered very thoroughly in Math 550.
Learning Outcomes: Students will master concepts and
solve problems based upon the topics covered in the course, including
the following: vectors and basic operations on them, including dot and cross
products; vector-valued functions and their integration and differentiation;
functions of several variables and their maximization, differentiation and integration;
vector fields;
line and path integrals.
A student who successfully completes this course should be able to continue developing
as an independent learner and problem solver, with the ability to approach problems from a conceptual
viewpoint, to utilize more than one idea in a single problem, and to apply appropriate
calculus skills to problems in context.
There will be 3 tests in the course. Each test is worth 100 points. Grades for quizzes will be weighted at the end of the semester on a scale of 0 to 100. The final exam is two and a half hours long and is worth 200 points.
Your letter grade for the course will be based on the above scores, but class attendance will count in borderline cases.
Also, university regulations say that absences, whether excused or unexcused, in excess of 10% are considered excessive and faculty may choose to assess a penalty for them. Poor attendance in this course could pull your grade down as far as one notch: from an A to a B+, from a B+ to a B, etc. This is not as severe as some courses, like English 101 where, for some sections, 25% absences incur an automatic grade of F.
Students who leave class early or come late without excuse run the risk of being counted as absent.
The final exam is on Thursday, December 12, at 4:00 pm. Only major, documented excuses for missing will be accepted. With so many students in the class, the University cannot accommodate any but the most compelling reasons. If you know in advance that you will miss it, let me know as soon as possible, in writing, giving details.
Information on all final exam times can be found outside of "Self Service Carolina" here.
Only simple calculators (available for $20 or less) are needed for this course, and they will be needed only a small fraction of the time, outside of class. Neither the quizzes, nor the hour tests, nor the final exam will require their use, although they may save some time on a few problems. Programmable calculators are not permitted for quizzes, hour tests, or the final exam.
Further information on policies and grading can be found by clicking here.
Practice problems, not to be handed in:
Section 12.1: 1,3, 5, 25, 29, 41, 47, 51, 55, 57. All but the last three should take very little time.
Section 12.2: 5, 7, 17, 21, 25, 33, 39. Physics and engineering students might also try their hand at 45 and 47, but this kind of problem will not appear on a test or quiz.
Students who leave class early or come late without excuse run the risk of being counted as absent.