Mathematics 1502 Calculus II Frequently asked Questions
Spring, 2001 (MWF 3:00, with recitations TTh 3:00)
Instructor: Evans Harrell, Skiles 134, 894 4312,
harrell@math.gatech.edu
Instructor's office periods: WF 4:15-5:00
Assistants:
This page will evolve during the term. Please check it for answers
to questions which concern the whole class. You may also wish to
consult:
The FAQs
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Where is the class?
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The lectures take place MWF at 3:00 in Physics Lecture Room 1,
in the
Howey Building
Recitations take place in various rooms
in the
Skiles Building on Tuesday and Thursday. Check on your own section on
OSCARWeb.
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Where can I get personalized help with calculus?
There are many resources available to you. If the prof's and the TA's
office periods do not meet your needs, you could try some of the many
campus tutoring resources:
Help is available for students in first and second year mathematics courses.
Please refer your students to the following tutorial programs.
MATH LAB:
Monday 12-4, Tuesday and Wednesday 11-4, and Thursday 11-3
Skiles 257
MATH 1113, 1501, 1502, 1711, 1712, 2401, 2601, and 3802
Contact: Rena Brakebill at brakebil@math.gatech.edu
OMED:
Sunday through Thursday 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Chapin Building, Room 208 (enter the building via the fire escape between
Chapin Building and D M Smith Building)
First and second year mathematics courses
Contact: Dr. Mona Meddin at mona.meddin@omed.gatech.edu
SUCCESS PROGRAMS' 1 TO 1 TUTORING:
Call (404) 894-1945 or use the online appointment book at
http://lotus.stucen.gatech.edu/1to1/ for a free appointment with a tutor in
MATH 1501, 1502, 2401, and 2403.
Contact: Dr. Paddy Kennington at paddy.kenninton@vpss.gatech.edu
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Are we responsible for the stuff done in class which is not in the textbooks?
Responsible in the sense of on tests, not that I am a grade grubber, that is.
No! Things like the parabolic
coordinate system are just for your enjoyment. I will make it clear if
there are exceptions to the rule, and will try to provide appropriate
reading in that case.
- Are calculators allowed in the tests?
As it says in the
syllabus:
Calculators and tests. No restrictions will be placed on the use of
calculators that do elementary mathematics on the tests.
Calculators that can do calculus symbolically shall not be brought to
tests. No credit will be given on tests for a correct answer without the
intermediate steps.
Graphing is OK, calculus on the calculator is not.
- What if I feel I was misgraded on the test?
The procedure, if you feel that an error was
made in your grading, is to resubmit the test to your TA or to
Professor Harrell, with a clear description of the problem. You
should never write anything on your test afterwards that might be
interpreted as looking like what you wrote during the test itself.
Rather, use a separate sheet of paper or a colored pen.
The question will be reexamined by whichever member of the team
graded it in the first place, and my instructions will be to use
exactly the same standard as the first time. (Thus an error could
go either way, on reexamination.) As for work not shown, it is
explicitly stated on the test instructions, that you should
"give clear evidence of your reasoning (or points will be taken off)."
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I don't understand the grading system. Could you tell me what my average in the
class is?
Do the grades on the website mean % points, or points out of 40?
The vector grade is the length of the vector
G = (T1, T2,...Tn),
and students' scores are listed in decreasing order of length. (At the
end of the course, some other things are added in.)
This kind of average is known to statisticians as the r.m.s. average, and,
if you divide by the number of tests before
taking the square root, it will indeed range from 0 to
the maximum test score, which is 40 except in exceptional cases.
It is not quite the same as the linear average, because it
gives some compensation for a botched test.
The vector length is not listed on the Web page, but it is easy
to calculate given the values of the components Tk.
Read SHE, chapter 12 for the length of a vector.
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Did you get my mail?
Well, if I didn't, how would I know? I try to send at least a brief
acknowledgment to my students' mail, so if you got no reply, you
may wish to try again. However, you should be warned that if your
handle is GarbageMan666@aol.com, the subject line had better be "1502"
and not "hey," because if it looks like spam it may be thrown away
without being read.
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I didn't buy the book by Demko when I got my copy of SHE. What can I
do?
Demko's book goes into more depth than the books by Hubbard and Hubbard or
Salas et al., so we do recommend that you get a copy. If you cannot find
one at a reasonable price, you can read it at the reserve desk in the
GT Library
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I was just wondering if you update the grades on line after a test or quiz.
I try to update them shortly after major tests, but otherwise the updates
are sporadic.
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I am writing
to inquire about what applications you would recommend for Math
1502 and if they are available for the Macintosh.
We recommend
Maple
for mathematical calculations, and it certainly
runs on the
Macintosh, as well as
Windows (all flavors), Unix, Linux, etc. I believe the
computer store
sells a
"software suite" which contains Maple and many other useful applications at a good price.
Maple will not be strictly required for this course, but we
believe it is a powerful tool, and we will sometimes
use Maple calculations in class. If you already have
Mathematica,
its capabilities are pretty much equivalent to those of
Maple, and you will not be forced to switch.
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I got something in the mail about a Maple workshop. Should I sign up
for the class? What will it teach me?
Maple will be used in a limited way in our class, and when
some Maple commands are
useful, I will let you know what they are.
The decision whether to study Maple more intensely depends on
how much use you will have for it in the future and how much you
enjoy doing calculations with the computer. There will be future
opportunities to learn Maple, by the way.
I do not know what is being offered in these Maple classes, but
I would guess it not only inlcudes the basic things we will do
(algebra, graphing, basic calculus commands), but also some
programming.
- Where can I find out more about this cool pi (
) gizmo?
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Exactly where are the reserve
materials located in the library?
As you go in the main door of the library, the circulation desk is
to your left. The reserve desk is at the right end of the
circulation desk.
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My roommate is in calc 3, so he is helping me, but
some of the problems that you assign are even, and I don't know how to
check my answers for them, because I don't know if I did them right. Is
there some manual that has that, so I could purchase it or something?
I am not aware of any such manual you can buy.
We intentionally assign some exercises without answers in the back,
because otherwise
people might rely on the answers before giving it the good college try.
However, there is another way you can check almost all the problems
in the book: Maple. Try it!
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Do we need to know about sinh and cosh?
I have never seen them before.
Yes! They are important, and you can read all about them in the
textbook if you are one of those poor souls who were shortchanged and
were not shown these delightful functions before. (Check the index of
the textbook.) Or you may prefer to look at the definitions,
cosh(x) := ( exp(x) + exp(-x) )/2
sinh(x) := ( exp(x) - exp(-x) )/2
From these you can easily work out everything you would ever need
to know about sinh and cosh.
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When is the final exam?
The final schedule is on-line at
In particular, our final exam will be in L1 during period 11
(Thursday 11:30-2:20).
Please
tell me
as soon as possible about conflicts (with full,
precise details about the class or classes with which we have a
conflict), graduating status, etc. I need this information
by e-mail or in writing.
Return to the
1502 class web page
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