MATH 242 Section 501 Elementary Differential Equations  Honors Section - Spring 2002 Professor Robert Sharpley Meets: TTh  11:00 - 12:15 in LeConte College 303B Instructor Information  Office:   LeConte 313 D  Office Hours nbsp;  TTh 10-11, or by appointment.

Course Information

Catalogue Description:    Ordinary differential equations of first order, higher order linear equations, Laplace transform methods, series methods; numerical solution of differential equations. Applications to physical sciences and engineering. Introduction to programming desirable.

Course Topics:    The course will cover the general topics contained in chapters 1-5, 7, and 9 of the text. These topics include

• analytical methods of solving Ordinary Differential Equations of first and higher orders. In particular, equations will be classified and methods will be developed to apply to these special classes.
• development of transform methods (Laplace) to solve differential equations and to study their solutions.
• the modeling of dynamic processes as differential equations: mixture problems, mechanical systems, RLC circuits, population growth, and predator-prey populations.
• use of the expert system computational algebra package Maple.
• direction fields (flows), phase portraits, and an introduction to qualitative differential equations.
• development of quantitative methods to numerically approximate the solutions to differential equations including Runge-Kutta methods and multi-step approximations.
• Other topics such as systems of differential equations, as time permits.

Grading scheme: Two tests, each counting 30% of the final grade. The homework, turned in on a regular basis, counts 10%, with the final exam counting 30%.

Attendance: Classroom attendance is required according to official university policy.

Important Course Dates:

 

January 15   (Tuesday) January 18   (Friday) February 14   (Thursday) February 25   (Monday) March 10-17   (Sun.-Sun.) April 4   (Thursday) April 30   (Tuesday)  May 2   (Thursday)  May 8   (2 pm, Wednesday)  Class Begins Last Day for Withdrawal w/o penalty Test 1 Last Day for Withdrawal w/o WF grade Spring Break - no classes  Test 2 Class Ends  Review Session at 1 pm  Final Exam

Maple Work Sheets

Homework Assignments

Tests and Samples
 

This page maintained by Robert Sharpley (sharpley@math.sc.edu) and last updated May 9, 2002. This page ©2001-2002, The Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina. URL: http://www.math.sc.edu/~sharpley/math242_Sp02