Math 3400 - Intro to Differential Equations - Spring 2012
Dr. Radu C. Cascaval

Home

Syllabus

Homework

Exams

Lectures

Resources

Course Description

The lectures will cover selected topics from the first eight chapters in the textbook, including: first-order differential equations; mathematical models and numerical methods, linear equations of higher order, systems of differential equations, Laplace Transform and power series method. Numerical methods for solving differential equations will also be introduced. Prerequisites: A solid background in Calculus (Math 135, 136 and 235)

Homework:

Weekly assignments will reflect the material covered in class, and will be usually DUE each Wednesday, unless otherwise specified. For a up-to-the-minute schedule of the assignments, always consult the course website. NO LATE HOMEWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR CREDIT. The lowest HMW grade will be dropped.

Grading and Atendance:

The course grade will be based on the cumulative score from homework assignments, each worth 10 points, two midterms each worth 100 pts, and the final exam, worth 150 pts. To make the most of your class, you are required to attend every class session. You should notify (in advance) the instructor if you need to miss more than one session. Supporting documentation may be required. Attendance will be taken on random days. Students who accumulate more than two absences between exam dates may not be allowed to sit in the following exam unless written documentation is provided. Although attendance and participation do not formally enter the grade, they will be taken into account every time one's score falls close to the cut-off value for a particular letter grade. At the same time you may be assured that if your score is at least 90% (or 80%,70%), then your letter grade will be at least A (or B, C respectively).

Exams

Exam 1: Wednesday, Feb 29
Exam 2: Wednesday, Apr 11
Final Exam: Monday, May 7 (10:50am-1:20pm)

There will be no make up exams so please mark your calendars! If a student informs me well before the exam date about absolutely having to miss an upcoming exam AND provides acceptable written verification in support of the request, then the final exam score will be used to replace that particular exam. If any of the above conditions is not satisfied, the student will get a zero on the missed exam. The above procedure may only be applied once. The Final Exam cannot be missed under any circumstances.

Computer software: MATLAB

During the lectures, the instructor will introduce some of the computational tools that are relevant for solving differential equations, using the computer software MATLAB. No prior experience with MATLAB is required. MATLAB is installed on ALL IT lab computers throught campus, including ENG 136 and ENG 233. Remote access to MATLAB is available for current UCCS students. MATLAB self-paced tutorials are also provided at the MATLAB resource page http://www.uccs.edu/~rcascava/Matlab/. For a thorough introduction to Computational Math using MATLAB, you may consider the 1-credit hour lab MATH 2650.

Learning Resources

Math Learning Center (MLC) Free tutoring service is available at the Math Learning Center (MLC) located in EN 136. It is recommended that you use this facility for questions regarding homework, computer algebra systems, review for exams or any other course material that you are having difficulty with. Please visit the MLC website http://www.uccs.edu/~mlc/ for more information.

Other policies:

To make the most of your class, you are required to attend every class session. Students should notify (in advance) the instructor if they need to miss more than one session. Supporting documentation may be required. Drop dates: Please seek counseling from the Dean's office before dropping any course and note the following important dates: Feb 1 – last day to drop and receive a full tuition refund; March 30 – last day to drop without special permission from the Dean.

Academic Dishonesty:

Academic honesty is fundamental to the activities and principles of a university. All members of the academic community must be confident that each person's work has been responsibly and honorably acquired, developed, and presented. Any effort to gain an advantage not given to all students is dishonest whether or not the effort is successful. The academic community regards academic dishonesty as an extremely serious matter, with serious consequences that range from probation to expulsion. When in doubt about plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, or collaboration, consult the course instructor.

Disability Services:

If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact and register with the Disability Services Office, and provide them with documentation of your disability, so they can determine what accommodations are appropriate for your situation. To avoid any delay in the receipt of accommodations, you should contact the Disability Services Office as soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive, and that disability accommodations cannot provided until an accommodation letter has been given to me. Please contact Disability Services for more information about receiving accommodations at Main Hall room 105, 719-255-3354 or dservice@uccs.edu

Tentative Schedule for Spring 2012: (Website has most up-to-date version)

		Week 1		1/18		1.1. Differential Equations and Mathematical Models 1.2. Integrals as General and Particular Solutions
		Week 2		1/23-1/25		1.3 Slope Fields ands Solutions Curves 1.4 Separable Equations and Applications
		Week 3		1/30-2/1		1.5 Linear First Order Equations 1.6 Substitution Methods and Exact Equations
		Week 4		2/6-2/8		2.1 Population Models and Applications 2.3 Acceleration-Velocity Models 2.4. Numerical Approximation: Euler's Method
		Week 5		2/13-2/15		3.1 Second order linear equations 3.2 General solution of linear equations
		Week 6		2/20-2/22		3.3 Homogeneous Equations with constant coefficients 3.5 Nonhomogeneous Equations and Undetermined Coefficients
		Week 7		2/27-2/29		Review for Exam 1 Exam 1
		Week 8		3/5-3/7		3.4 Mechanical Vibrations 3.6 Forced Oscillations and Resonances 3.7 Electrical Circuits
		Week 9		3/12-3/14		4.1 First Order systems and Applications 4.2. Method of Elimination 4.3 Numerical Methods for Systems
		Week 10		3/19-3/21		7.1 Laplace Transform and Inverse Transform 7.2 Transformation of Initial Value Problems
				3/26-3/28		Spring Break
		Week 11		4/2-4/4		7.3 Translations and Partial Fractions 7.4 Derivatives, Integrals and Products of Transforms 7.5 Periodic and Piecewise Continuous Input Functions
		Week 12		4/9-4/11		Review for Exam 2 Exam 2
		Week 13		4/16-4/18		7.6 Impulses and Delta Functions 4.1 First Order Systems and Applications 4.2 The Method of Elimination
		Week 14		4/23-4/23		8.1 Introduction and Review of Power Series 8.2 Series Solutions near Ordinary Points
		Week 15		4/30-5/2		8.3 Regular singular points Review for Final Exam
				5/7		Final Exam Monday, May 7 (10:50am -1:20pm)