Math 133A: Ordinary Differential Equations
Spring 2005

(5/24) If you would like to take a look at your final exam, you can come on Wednesday, May 25, at 2:45 (I have to warn you that I need to leave at 3) or on Saturday, May 28, at 1:30. Please email me to let me know if you are planning to come.

(5/21) You must take the final exam with your own section.

(5/20) I'll be available for appointments on Monday, 5/23, between 1:30 and 3.

(5/19) I just posted solutions to all Homework 13 problems.

(5/18) On Friday, my office hours will actually be 10-12. Sorry for the change. Also, solutions to graded Homework 13 problems have been posted.

(5/16)

Review session will be on Wednesday, May 18 at 1:30, in room MH 323.

(5/16) (1) I will distribute the SOTEs today. (2) Representation of different topics on the final exam will be approximately proportional to their representation in the homework assignments. (3) I posted some "almost solutions" to the final exam questions from last semester.

(5/13) There will be a review session, most likely on Wednesday, May 18 at 1:30, room TBA. My office hours next week (5/16-20) will be:

Monday: 8:45-10 & 2:30-3:30; Wednesday: 2:30-3:30; Friday: 10-12

(5/12) Here are some hints for the sample final posted above above.

(5/11) Solution to Quiz 7 has been posted.

(5/11) Here's another extra credit problem.

(5/11) I may distribute the SOTEs on Monday, if attendance on Friday is low. Btw, SOTE = Student Opinions of Teaching Effectiveness.

(5/10) Here are the lecture notes on systems of ODEs for tomorrow's class.

(5/10) Solutions to graded Homework 12 problems have been posted.

(5/9) I will distributing SOTEs on Friday, May 13. I'll neeed a volunteer from each section to act as a proctor and return the forms to the Math Department. Please let me know if you can do it.

(5/8) Here's another extra credit problem. (These can be turned in any time before the final exam.) Also, Homework 13 (the last one!) is due on May 16 and includes one extra credit problem.

(5/6) Two things: (1) You can turn in Homework 12 on Monday, May 9. (2) On Monday, I'll have my office hours in the morning, 8:45-10:15. Have a good weekend!

(5/4) Solution to Quiz 6 has been posted.

(5/4) Quiz 7 (the last one!) will be on Wednesday, May 11. It will cover Homework 12. Also, here's an extra credit problem: Ex. 7.6, #41.

(5/2) FYI: I have not charged any students with Academic Dishonesty. (This is a response to an anonymous inquiry.)

(5/1) Solutions to graded Homework 11 problems have been posted. Happy May Day - the International Worker's Day!

(4/29) Homework 12 has been posted and is due on Friday, May 6.

(4/28) It's time to start reviewing for the final exam. (See above.) Also, here are some useful trigonometric identities.

(4/27) Quiz 6 will be on Wednesday, May 4 and it will cover Homework 11.

(4/22) My office hours on Monday, April 25, will be only in the morning between 8:45 and 10:15. Homework 11 has been posted and is due on Friday, April 29.

(4/20) Solutions to Midterm 2 have been posted.

(4/18) You are allowed to have one 3 X 5" index card with your notes on the midterm. (You can use both sides.)

(4/18) Today I will have extended office hours, from 2:15 to 4:30.

(4/13) Solutions to graded Homework 9 problems have been posted. Homework 10 has also been posted. It's a review for Midterm 2, so you don't need to turn it in. You should also do problems from Sections 7.2 and 7.3 which will be covered by the midterm.

(4/12) Midterm 2 next week (4/20) will cover homework assignments 6-9. You can find sample midterms from last semester here.

(4/11) Solution to Quiz 5 has been posted.

(4/10) You may want to check out an online Laplace calculator. More online calculators can be found here. Thanks are due to Edris for letting me know about this site.

(4/7) Solutions to graded Homework 8 problems have been posted.

(4/6) On Friday, April 8, I will have extended office hours, from 8:45 to 11. Also, Homework 9 has been posted and is due on April 13.

(4/4) Quiz 5 will be on Monday, April 11, and will cover Homework 8.

(4/3) Homework 8 extension: you can turn it in on Wednesday, April 6.

(3/25) Enjoy your spring break!

(3/24) Instead of Ex. 4.3, #32, Ex. 4.3, #31de from Homework 7 was graded.

(3/23) Homework 8 has been posted and is due on Monday, April 4.

(3/23) Ex. 4.3, #32 is listed as a graded problem but has actually not been assigned (thanks for the person who pointed that out), so you will not be graded on it. I'll let you know which problem will be graded instead.

(3/21) Solutions to graded Homework 7 problems have been posted.

(3/20) On Monday, March 21 (only), my office hour will be between 3:15 and 3:45, instead of the usual 2:15-3:45. I'll have extra office hours on a later date (TBA).

(3/16) Solution to Quiz 4 has been posted.

(3/16) Petitioners have been spotted at SJSU telling students to sign "in order to have more money for education." The petitions would put an initiative on the ballot that, if passed, would change CalPERS pensions dramatically. No "extra money" would go to education as a result of this initiative. In fact, the quality of a CSU education would be diminished if reduced benefits for the faculty make it even more difficult to recruit and retain colleagues. I urge you not to sign this deceptive petition.

(3/15) If you're a College of Science student, have a major GPA of 3.5 or higher and overall GPA of 3.0 or higher, you may want to apply for an Alumni Scholarship. The amount is $1,250 and the deadline is March 18. (As of March 11, only one application was submitted. There are two available scholarships.) If you working toward a science teaching credential, you can also apply for the Noyce Scholarships. Email me for more information.

(3/14) Homework 7 has been posted and is due on Monday, March 21.

(3/12) Solutions to graded problems from Homework 6 have been posted.

(3/9) Quiz 4 will be on Wednesday, March 16. It will cover Homework 6. (Btw, in response to an anonymous inquiry: the highest score on Midterm 1 was 100.)

(3/4) Grading policy update: I will drop the lowest quiz and homework scores, and put three times more weight on the higher midterm score than on the lower one. For example, if you got 50 points on one midterm and 90 points on the other (out of 100), you will get 32 out of possible 40 midterm points, which is the same as getting 80 points on both midterms. So, if you didn't do well on Midterm 1, there's still hope, but it's all up to you and your hard work.

(3/4) Homework 6 has been posted and is due on Friday, March 11.

(3/2) Midterm 1 solutions have been posted.

(2/27) As I said in class, you are allowed to bring one 3 X 5" index card with your notes on the midterm.

(2/26) Solutions to graded problems from Homework 4 have been posted. Also, I posted Homework 5 which is a midterm review. You don't have to turn it in.

(2/25) Study group update, quoting Eric Stackpole: "Monday/Wednesday group will meet in the 7th floor main study area of the MLK Library between 12:30 and 12:40pm, and possibly move into one of the side study rooms once enough people show up (so look there if you show up late.) I will need to leave at 2:30 for a class, but we'll say the ending times of the meetings will be open ended. (...) To get a start on meeting times for people with other schedules, John janzaldo@yahoo.com says he has time from 8:30-11:30 on Fridays."

(2/23) Solutions to Quiz 3 have been posted.

(2/23) Midterm 1 (next Wednesday, March 2) will cover Homework assignments 1 through 4. I will do a review on Monday, February 28.

(2/22) My response to some anonymous feedback/questions:

I was looking through your syllabus and noticed that you have a grading policy but no scale. Do you use the standard ABCDF scale or is it curved slightly ? thank you Response: I grade on a curve, but in almost all my classes, an A corresponded to scores 90-100 (out of 100), and the median was around 60-65.

Could you please tell us which problems will get graded? Some of us must hurry through the homework and must know which problems to spend more time on. Response: I can't tell you which problems will be graded - that would be like telling you what problems will be on the exam. Doing all the homework problems is not just the only way to do well in this (or any math) class - it's a basic responsibility of any student. However, I do agree that it's unfortunate that you are getting feedback on only a few homework problems. It's a sad consequence of the budget cuts for education in California.

I was looking for the sample midterm exams and solutions that you were speaking about yesterday in class but couldnt find it on your website. Response: The web site for my Math 133A class from last semester (including all exams except the final) is at

http://www.math.sjsu.edu/~simic/Fall04/Math133A/133A.html.

(2/21) My office hours tomorrow (2/21) will be from 2:30 to 3:30 instead of the usual ones (2:15-3:45). On Wednesday, February 23, I will have an extra office half hour, 3-3:30.

(2/18) Homework 4 has been posted and is due on Friday, February 25. I also posted solutions to graded Homework 3 problems.

(2/17) Quiz 3 will be on Wednesday, February 23. It will cover Homework 3.

(2/17) The study group organized by Eric Stackpole met at the MLK Library yesterday starting at 12:30. As far as I know, the main proposed meeting time has been MW 12:30-1:30, but it's possible that there will be several groups meeting at different times. Please contact Eric at estackpo@email.sjsu.edu for more information.

(2/14) Quiz 2 solution has been posted. Also, the due date for Homework 3 has been extended to Friday, February 18.

(2/11) Solutions to graded HW2 problems have been posted. The grading policy is: each of the four problems is worth 5 points, plus addiditonal 5 points for doing all the homework problems, 2 points for doing only some of them.

(2/10) If you would like to join a Math 133A study group organized by Eric Stackpole from the 12:30 section, please contact Eric at estackpo@email.sjsu.edu, or stop by MH323 MWF around 12:20 (sorry, not MH424 around 1:20!). So far there are 8 people who signed up.

(2/9) Homework 3 has been posted and is due on Wednesday, February 16.

(2/8) Office hour change for tomorrow, February 9 only: instead of the usual time 8:45-10:15, I'll available 10:30-11:30 and 3-3:45.

(2/7) Three announcements:

(1) HW2 extension: it's now due on Friday, February 11, right after class.

(2) I don't feel well today, so I have to cancel my office hours. However, you can ask me questions by email.

(3) Quiz 2 will be on Monday, February 14. It'll cover Homework 2.

And: we now have a grader!

(2/4) Solution to Quiz 1 has been posted.

(2/1) Homework 2 has been posted and is due on Wednesday, February 9.

(1/28) Quiz 1 will be on Friday, February 4.

(1/26) If you're trying to add the class, there is more space in the 12:30-1:20 section then in the earlier one, so if you can fit it into your schedule, it would be easier if you try to add that section. As I said today in class, I'll be giving out add codes on Friday and Monday.

N.B.: There's also a Tuesday-Thursday section at 4PM (though I'm not teaching it) that has lots of space and may even get cancelled if the enrollment stays low.

(1/25) Homework 1 is due on Wednesday, February 2.

(1/16) The first class meeting is on Wednesday, January 26.

Lecture time and location

Section 04: MWF 11:30-12:20 in MH 323

Section 06: MWF 12:30-13:20 in MH 424

Prerequisite

Math 32 (with a grade of "C-" or better) or instructor consent.

Office hours

Monday 2:15-3:45, Wednesday and Friday 8:45-10:15, and by appointment

Textbook

Nagle, Saff and Snider: Fundamentals of Differential Equations, Addison Wesley, sixth edition, 2004

Syllabus

Green sheet

Basic notions; direction fields (Chapter 1). First order equations: separable, linear, exact, special types (Chapter 2). Second order linear equations with constant coefficients (Chapter 4). The Laplace transform (Chapter 7). Power series solutions (Sections 8.1-8.3). Basics of systems of ODEs (parts of Chapter 5, time permitting).

Exams

There will be several short quizzes, two midterms, and a final exam. The exam schedule:

Midterm 1: March 2

Midterm 2: April 20

Final exam:

Section 04: May 23, 9:45-12:00

Section 06: May 25, 12:15-14:30

There will be no make-up exams.

Midterm 1 solutions: Section 4, Section 6.

Midterm 2 solutions: Section 4, Section 6.

How to...

How to study for this and other math classes

How to take the exam

Grading policy

Homework 10%, Quizzes 10%, Midterms 40%, Final 40%

Handouts

Basic integrals and integration techniques you have to know well

Some useful trigonometric identities

Systems of ODEs

Homework

(Obsolete as of HW2) Homework will be collected and graded in the following way:

2 points: done all the exercises

1 point: done some exercises

0 points: homework not turned in.

Starting with Homework 2, the grading policy is: each of the four problems is worth 5 points, plus addiditonal 5 points for doing all the homework problems, 2 points for doing only some of them.

All the problems will be from the textbook.

Late homework policy. One day late: 50% penalty; two days late: no credit.

# Due date Assignment Graded problems' soln's

1 2/2 Ex. 1.1: #2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14-17; Ex. 1.2: #2, 7, 8, 12, 13, 16, 20, 22, 26, 31

2 2/11 Ex. 1.3: #2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 16, 19; Ex. 2.2: #8, 12, 16, 20, 22, 26, 28, 30, 34 HW2

3 2/18 Ex. 2.3: #12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 28, 33, 36; Ex. 2.4: #10, 12, 16, 20, 22, 26, 28, 29, 32, 34 HW3

4 2/25 Ex. 2.5: #7, 12, 13, 15, 16; Ex. 2.6: #1, 6, 8, 13, 18, 20, 22, 32, 42, 46 HW4

5 3/2 Ch. 2 review problems #1-39 odd (but don't turn in)

6 3/11 Ex. 4.1: #2, 4, 5, 9; Ex. 4.2:
#6, 8, 10, 11, 16-20, 26, 28, 29, 32, 34, 36, 37 HW6

7 3/21 Ex. 4.3: #10, 17, 20, 23, 25, 27, 31de, 34, 38, 41;
Ex. 4.4: #15-35 odd HW7

8 4/6 Ex. 4.5: #1, 4, 5, 7, 21, 26, 46, 47a;
Ex. 4.6: #3, 5, 6, 15, 20, 22, 25; Ex. 4.8: #1, 6, 14 HW8

9 4/13 Ex. 7.2: #1-12, 15, 17, 20, 26, 27, 28, 29efi, 32;
Ex. 7.3: #8, 9, 14, 17, 20, 24, 26, 29, 31, 36 HW9

10 4/20 Chapter 4 Review problems #1-39 odd; do by 4/20, but don't turn in

11 4/29 Ex. 7.4: #2, 6, 7, 9, 21, 23, 27, 32, 36, 41;
Ex. 7.5: #4, 6, 9, 10, 23, 27, 30, 33, 35, 38 HW11

12 5/9 Ex. 7.6: #5, 8, 15, 17, 18, 19, 26, 30, 39, 40, 61;
Ex. 7.7: #3, 6, 7, 11, 15, 20, 24, 25, 31, 35 HW12

13 5/16 Ex. 7.8: #6, 10, 11, 13, 32 (extra credit);
Ex. 8.3: #19, 22. HW13

#	Due date	Assignment	Graded problems' soln's
1	2/2	Ex. 1.1: #2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14-17; Ex. 1.2: #2, 7, 8, 12, 13, 16, 20, 22, 26, 31
2	2/11	Ex. 1.3: #2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 16, 19; Ex. 2.2: #8, 12, 16, 20, 22, 26, 28, 30, 34	HW2
3	2/18	Ex. 2.3: #12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 28, 33, 36; Ex. 2.4: #10, 12, 16, 20, 22, 26, 28, 29, 32, 34	HW3
4	2/25	Ex. 2.5: #7, 12, 13, 15, 16; Ex. 2.6: #1, 6, 8, 13, 18, 20, 22, 32, 42, 46	HW4
5	3/2	Ch. 2 review problems #1-39 odd (but don't turn in)
6	3/11	Ex. 4.1: #2, 4, 5, 9; Ex. 4.2: #6, 8, 10, 11, 16-20, 26, 28, 29, 32, 34, 36, 37	HW6
7	3/21	Ex. 4.3: #10, 17, 20, 23, 25, 27, 31de, 34, 38, 41; Ex. 4.4: #15-35 odd	HW7
8	4/6	Ex. 4.5: #1, 4, 5, 7, 21, 26, 46, 47a; Ex. 4.6: #3, 5, 6, 15, 20, 22, 25; Ex. 4.8: #1, 6, 14	HW8
9	4/13	Ex. 7.2: #1-12, 15, 17, 20, 26, 27, 28, 29efi, 32; Ex. 7.3: #8, 9, 14, 17, 20, 24, 26, 29, 31, 36	HW9
10	4/20	Chapter 4 Review problems #1-39 odd; do by 4/20, but don't turn in
11	4/29	Ex. 7.4: #2, 6, 7, 9, 21, 23, 27, 32, 36, 41; Ex. 7.5: #4, 6, 9, 10, 23, 27, 30, 33, 35, 38	HW11
12	5/9	Ex. 7.6: #5, 8, 15, 17, 18, 19, 26, 30, 39, 40, 61; Ex. 7.7: #3, 6, 7, 11, 15, 20, 24, 25, 31, 35	HW12
13	5/16	Ex. 7.8: #6, 10, 11, 13, 32 (extra credit); Ex. 8.3: #19, 22.	HW13

Quizzes

Quizzes will be based on the homework. The date of each quiz will be announced in class.

Date Quiz # Solutions

2/4 Quiz 1 Quiz 1 solution

2/14 Quiz 2 Quiz 2 solution

2/23 Quiz 3 Quiz 3 solution

3/16 Quiz 4 Quiz 4 solution

4/11 Quiz 5 Quiz 5 solution

5/4 Quiz 6 Quiz 6 solution

5/11 Quiz 7 Quiz 7 solution

Date	Quiz #	Solutions
2/4	Quiz 1	Quiz 1 solution
2/14	Quiz 2	Quiz 2 solution
2/23	Quiz 3	Quiz 3 solution
3/16	Quiz 4	Quiz 4 solution
4/11	Quiz 5	Quiz 5 solution
5/4	Quiz 6	Quiz 6 solution
5/11	Quiz 7	Quiz 7 solution

Policy on calculators

Calculators will not be allowed on any of the tests.

In this class you will develop basic skills for solving some important classes of differential equations on your own. I will therefore not require you to have calculators or use them in class. If you find it helpful, feel free to use calculators for studying or doing the homework. However, do not become dependent on them.

I do plan to use technology (mostly Matlab) in the classroom when appropriate. I will also be happy to refer you to computational resources for solving and studying differential equations.

Calculus review

You need to know the basics of calculus to understand differential equations. Follow this link for a helpful online calculus review developed by Professor Linda Valdes.

Academic integrity

By default, I regard my students as honest individuals and expect them to abide by the University policy on academic integrity.

Anonymous feedback

If you have any comments or suggestions, please fill out this anonymous feedback form.

Slobodan N. Simić

Last modified: Sun May 2 17:56:07 PDT 2005

Math 133A: Ordinary Differential Equations Spring 2005

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