Math 71/90 Old News - September
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9/3: The calculus tutoring lab schedule is now available. The lab is in EE 167. I will also post the schedule outside my office door. Please make the lab a part of your week!
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9/6 (1): Congratulations! Nearly everyone did well on the first quiz! The solutions are available to download from this page (see Quizzes, above). Keep up the good work! And be sure to get an early start studying for the next quiz (see 9/6 (2), below), since more sections will be covered.
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9/6 (2): This week's quiz will cover sections 2-B through 2-E of Ebersole. You should know how to
- Find the domain and range of a function
- Recognize the four different ways to represent a function discussed in class
- Be able to express sets in number line, interval, and set description notations
- Understand and graph piecewise functions, including absolute value functions
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9/6 (3): The homework for this Friday includes a worksheet W1 which will be handed out in class on Wednesday. You can also download the worksheet from this page (see Worksheets and Handouts, above) if you want to get an early start!
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9/7 (1): A student has pointed out that page 59 of Ebersole -- which has some problems for the homework -- is missing from the e-reserve copy! Here are the rest of the problems from Section 2-D that appear on p. 59:
(#3 cont.)
b. Give the domain of the function g.
c. Give the range of the function g.
d. Estimate the value of the y-intercept of the graph of g.
e. Estimate the value(s) of the x-intercepts of the graph of g.
4. Sketch the graph of a function that has no y-intercepts.
5. Explain why a function can have at most one y-intercept.
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9/7 (2): This just in! Another student has informed me that the bookstore has received the Ebersole books! So if you do not yet have the book, please go and purchase it as soon as possible.
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9/10 (1): The bookstore has run out of books again. More have been ordered. Keep checking! There should be nine more by Tuesday, and the rest (hopefully) by Thursday. In the meantime, try to hook up with someone who has the book, and study with them (and/or make photocopies).
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9/10 (2): The homework list has been updated with current deadlines. You can check the status of the deadlines above under Worksheets and Handouts throughout the term.
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9/11: A student in our class has graciously scanned a few more pages of Ebersole for those who still do not have the book. They are in .pdf format and can be downloaded by clicking here: pages 85-91 and 101-108 and page 92.
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9/15 (1): This week's quiz will cover sections 2-F through 3-A of Ebersole, plus Sections 1.1 and 1.3(1) of Stewart and Worksheet W1. You should know how to
- Recognize and be able to graph all the special functions discussed in class
- Recognize and be able to graph transformations of graphs (vertical and/or horizontal shifts, reflections, and dilations/compressions)
- Combine two functions to get a new function by adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing
- Take a graph with two functions f and g and sketch a graph of f+g, as demonstrated in class.
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9/15 (2): Next week there will be no quiz, because we are having our first MIDTERM on Friday, September 24. You will have the entire 50 minutes to complete your test. It will cover Sections 2-A through 3-B of Ebersole, 1.1, 1.3, and 2.1 of Stewart, and Worksheet W1.
Some students have asked me, "What should I do to prepare for the exams?" Here are some tips for success on the midterm:
- Before the exam (as soon as possible!):
- Go over anything you missed on the quizzes and homework.
- Do lots of practice problems from the text.
- Make up practice problems and do them.
- Did I mention that practicing is a good idea?
- Do the practice exam (see 9/15 (3), below) under test conditions (in 50 minutes or less, with no notes and no calculator!). The actual exam may be shorter than the practice, so if you can complete the practice accurately in 50 minutes, you should not be in a hurry for the actual test.
- If you are unsure about anything at all, make time to come see me.
- Remember that understanding your notes is not enough; you must be good at doing problems you have not seen before, with no notes. So practice, practice, practice!
- During the exam:
- You do not have to do the problems in order. Skim through the test and do the easy ones first.
- Do not panic so much that you don't give yourself time to read the questions carefully. If you have followed the pre-exam advice, there shouldn't be any major surprises. If the phrasing of a question seems different from what you are used to, read the question slowly several times. If you are not sure what a question is asking, raise your hand.
- Be sure to give yourself enough time to check your answers. If an answer doesn't seem to make sense, but you don't have time to fix it, write a note explaining why you think there is a problem. Do everything you can to convince me you know the material.
I hope this helps! Good luck!
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9/15 (3) ( 9/19): There is a practice midterm you can download above. The solutions are now available above. Again, you are urged to complete the practice midterm under test conditions (no notes or calculators, in 50 minutes or less) in order to see clearly what you still have to work on. Then grade your test using the solutions. Please see me if there is anything in the solutions that you do not understand. The value of practice cannot be overemphasized. Practice makes perfect!!
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9/15 (4): As mentioned in class my office hours for this Friday morning are cancelled. I will still be in the problem session on Friday afternoon. Hope to see you there!
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9/15 (5): I have updated the homework list with all the deadlines through the Wednesday after Midterm I. Note that there is no homework due on the day of the midterm.
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9/26 (1): The solutions to the midterm are available above. The purple tests were the same as the blue tests. So if you had a purple test, look at the blue test solutions.
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9/26 (2): The homework list has been updated through this Friday's assignment.
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9/26 (3): This Friday's quiz will cover section 2.2 (1) of Stewart. You should know how to
- Say in words what the limit of a function means
- Given a graph of a function f(x), determine the limit, the left-hand limit, and/or the right-hand limit of f(x) as x approaches a given number (no infinite limits).
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9/27: Thanks to the students who pointed out the defective links to the midterm solutions. They have now been fixed.