| Instructor: | Tomas Schonbek |
|---|---|
| S & E 218, Ext. 7-3355 | |
| e-mail schonbek@fau.edu | |
| Office Hours: | MWF 8:00AM-8:50AM and MWF 11:00AM-12noon or by appointment |
| Textbook: | Elementary Differential Equations |
| by | |
| W.E. Boyce and R.C. DiPrima | |
| Seventh Edition, Wiley & Sons, 2001 |
Course Description
Contents
The course is a standard, first course in ordinary differential equations. The main prerequisite is calculus of one variable. A few notions of calculus of several variables will come into play, but they will be covered in the course. We will emphasize a practical, manipulative approach to differential equations, but a certain amount of theory and applications are covered. We expect students not only to be able to solve a number of differential equations, but also to know what it means to solve such an equation and what the solutions are good for. We shall try to cover most of Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 6 of the textbook and Parts of Chapters 4 and 5. We shall move at a relatively brisk pace, so try not to fall behind; it may be hard to catch up.Grading
Grading for the course will be based on quizzes, homeworks and three exams.- Quizzes. We will have a quiz almost every week. There will be no quiz during the weeks in which exams are scheduled, and there may be other exceptions. Normally, the quiz will be during the second half of the Friday class. However, the management of the course reserves the right to hold this quiz on other weekdays, especially on a day of low attendance. The management of this course dislikes grading and the fewer students are present on a quiz day, the easier it is for the management. The quizzes will account for 15% of the grade; the lowest two quiz grades will be dropped. Each quiz will be graded on a scale from 0-100.
- Homeworks
- Homeworks. Once a section of the text is completed, you should consider ALL the homework at the end of this section as having been assigned. It doesn't mean you should do all of it. It does mean, however, that you should do enough of the problems to convince yourself you have an understanding of the topic just covered. If you are having difficulties with the exercises, you should come and see me during office hours. Unresolved difficulties will probably hurt you during the exams. This homework is not to be handed in; it is for YOUR benefit. The homework to be handed in, and which will be graded, will be formally assigned, with a due date. Some of the problems in this homework may require the use of a computer. It will be graded on a scale from 0 to 100; homework handed in more than one day late but less than a week late will penalized with a loss of 20 points; homework more than a week but less than two weeks late, will lose 50 points. Homework more than two weeks late will be destroyed. No homework will be accepted after April 29, 2002. Graded homework accounts for 15% of the grade.
- Exams. There will be three exams, the third one will be a CUMULATIVE
final exam. The exams account for 70% of the grade by one of the
following two schemes:
Scheme 1
- Exam 1- 20%
- Exam 2- 20%
- Final Exam - 30%
Scheme 2
The lowest grade of Exams 1 and 2 gets dropped; the other one counts for 20% of the grade, the final exam accounts for 50% of the grade. THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UPS. If you miss either exam 1 or 2, for whatever reason, you get a 0 for that exam and you will probably have to be graded by Grading Scheme 2.Exam Dates
- Exam 1. Monday, February 11, 2002.
- Exam 2. Wednesday, March 27, 2002
- Final Exam. Monday, April 29, 2002; 7:45-10:15 AM
LINKS
- Homework #1
- Homework #2, Solutions.
- Exam #1, Solutions.
- Exam #2, Solutions.
- Exam #2b, Solutions.
- Homework #4
- Hints for Homework #4
- Homework #4, Solutions
- Homework #5
- Homework #5, Solutions
- Homework #6, Solutions
- Homework #7
- Homework #7, Solutions
- The pendulum papers
- Grade Conversion Scale
