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Syllabus for Math 21-123

Course Outline: In his book Il Saggiatore (The Analyzer) Galileo wrote, "The book of the universe is written in the language of mathematics... without the help of which it is impossible to conceive a single word of it, and without which one wanders in vain through a dark labyrinth."

In Math 21-123 we will continue to gain fluency in the language of mathematics by learning how to approximate complicated functions such as exponentials and sines with large polynomials. While the resulting expression will not be exact, it can frequently be made to be as exact as necessary by choosing a large enough polynomial. For example, sin(x) is very close to x whenever x is small. Even better approximations are x - x3/6 and x - x3/6 + x5/125. We will see how to get better and better approximations and learn how to figure out how close these approximations are to the actual functions.

Classes and Recitation Sessions: Class meets MWF from 12:30 to 1:20 in BH A51. Your Teaching Assistant (TA) will also hold two weekly recitation sessions. I strongly encourage you to attend these recitation sessions as they are an integral part of the course and will be devoted primarily to working problems and amplifying the material. Click here for more information about your TA and the recitation sessions.

Office Hours: Monday 10:30-11:30, Thursday 1:00-2:00, and by appointment. My office is Wean 6117.

Help: In addition to class, recitation sessions, and office hours, the University operates a walk-in Peer Tutoring Center in the Mudge Library and the Donner Reading Room on Sunday-Thursday evenings from 8:30 to 11:00pm. Individualized tutoring and other help options are also available through Academic Development.

Homework: Homework exercises are an integral part of the course. It is difficult to understand the material and do well on the exams without working through the homework problems in a thoughtful manner. Discussion of the homework with your peers is encouraged, but copying any part of another person's homework is not permitted. Please think about the problems posed, your strategies, and the meaning of your computations and answers.

Homework is due at the beginning of recitation every Tuesday. Homework turned in after Tuesday's recitation, but before the solutions are posted will receive half credit. Late (or early) homework may be turned in to your TA's mailbox in Wean 6113, but you must first alert your TA to this fact with a brief email of explanation. No credit will be given for homework turned in without explanation or after the solutions have been posted on Wednesday afternoon.

Text:Essential Calculus: Early Transcendentals, by James Stewart.


It is published by Thomson and is available at the bookstore.

Midterms: There will be two in-class midterms and no final exam. The dates of the midterm exams are as follows:

Midterm 1: Friday, February 8

Midterm 2: Wednesday, March 5

Grading: Your course grade will be determined as follows:

High Midterm: 45%
Low Midterm: 40%
Homework: 15%

The highest possible grade cutoffs will be 90% for an A, 80% for a B, 70% for a C, and 60% for a D. These cutoffs may be lowered slightly, but will not be increased.

Calculators: We encourage you to not rely too heavily on a graphing calculator as you work through your homework problems. Use the calculator to check your graphs if you must. That said, the use of a quality calculator can prove very helpful in understanding a good number of topics in the course from integration and successive approximation to differential equations. Calculators will not be allowed during exams unless we explicitly state otherwise.

Supplements to the textbook: http://www.stewartcalculus.com/media/6_inside_topics.php

Week by week schedule (tentative):

Week 1 (January 14-18):

  • Welcome and Introduction
  • Section 8.1 Sequences
  • Section 8.2 Series

Week 2 (January 23-25):

  • Section 8.3 The Integral Test
  • Section 8.3 The Comparison Tests

Week 3 (January 28 - February 1):

  • Section 8.4 Alternating Series
  • Section 8.4 Absolute Convergence and the Ratio and Root Tests
  • Strategy for Testing Series

In-class Review for Midterm; Wednesday, February 6

First In-class Midterm; Friday, February 8

Week 4 (February 4 - 8):

  • Section 8.5 Power Series
  • In-class Review for Midterm
  • First In-class Midterm

Week 5 (February 11 - 15):

  • Section 8.6 Representations of Functions as Power Series
  • Section 8.7 Taylor and Maclaurin Series
  • Section 8.7 Taylor and Maclaurin Series (continued)

Week 6 (February 18 - 22):

  • Section 8.8 Applications of Taylor Polynomials
  • Fourier Series
  • Second-Order Linear Differential Equations

Week 7 (February 25 - February 29):

  • Nonhomogeneous Linear Equations
  • Using Series to Solve Differential Equations
  • Using Series to Solve Differential Equations (continued)

In-class Review for Midterm; Monday, March 3

Second In-class Midterm; Wednesday, March 5

Week 8 (March 3 - March 5):

  • In-class Review for Midterm
  • Second In-class Midterm

Return to Math 21-123 Course Page



Please send comments to jmackey@andrew.cmu.edu