Calculus II - Mathematics 142,   Sections 5 and 6


Frank Thorne - Fall 2013
University of South Carolina

Welcome to Math 142! Calculus is a beautiful, important, and fascinating subject.

It is also challenging. Please plan on a lot of hard work; we are here to help you succeed.


Instructional Staff :


Learning outcomes:

"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten." -- B.F. Skinner

Successful students will:

The above is true of any math class. Typically, all of this is best learned in some specific context. Therefore, successful students will also:

Warning. There is a ton of homework. It will be collected and graded. That is because this is the most effective way for you to learn. But:

This class doesn't cover exactly the same material as most sections of Math 142. Compared to a recent version of the course:


Course requirements and grading:

Text : James Stewart, Calculus, Early Transcendentals, 6th edition. We will use a custom edition of this book, available in the campus bookstore. It has not changed since last year, so please feel free to buy a used version from an upperclassman.

I also highly recommend Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus Thompson. If nothing else, read the epilogue on p. 283.

Meeting schedule :

Exam schedule : All exams will be held in the usual classroom, during class meetings (except for the final).

The midterm exams will be very similar to the homeworks, and several problems will be taken exactly from the homework assignments. There will not be any topics on the exams that were not covered in the homeworks.

Exam 1 and solutions.

Practice Exam 2.

Practice Exam 3, with partial solutions.

Exam 3, with solutions.

Practice final exams: (see the bottom) Like the final exam, they are taken exactly from the homeworks.

Here is information about convergence tests. This sheet will be added to as the semester goes on, and will be provided to you on Midterm 3 and on the final exam. Therefore you should make sure that you understand what everything here means and how to use it. Please ask if you have any questions.

Homework : Homework is due to your TA by 5:00 p.m., on Fridays except as otherwise noted below. (Your TA will tell you where to turn in your homework.) The homework will be graded and returned to you, according to the following scheme. Each homework is worth 10 points. Out of that, three problems will be selected each week (randomly, for the most part) and graded carefully, and each is worth 2 points. The remaining 4 points are for overall quality and completion.

All the homework assignments can be downloaded from this website (see below). They are long. Do not start the night before.They are also very important.

Each homework will have ''required'', ''additional'', and (one or more) ''bonus'' problems. The additional problems are not required; if you do them then the points taken off elsewhere will be reduced by up to 50%. The bonus problems are extra credit.

As noted above, all problems on the final exam will be taken verbatim from the homework assignments. (This includes the ''additional'' problems, which is one reason to do them.) If you are diligent in this course then there should be no surprises.

Grading :

You will be graded both on correctness and on quality of exposition. The standard is that someone who doesn't know the answer should be able to easily follow your work. Any work that is confusing, ambiguous, or poorly explained will not receive full credit.

The grade cutoffs are: A for 88%, B+ for 84%, B for 76%, C+ for 72%, C for 64%, and D for 50%.

      % of grade  
  Three in-class exams:     20% x 2  
  Final exam:     30%  
  Maple lab assignments:     15%  
  Homework:     15%  

Only your highest two midterm exam grades will be counted. Also, the above does not include the Calc I exam the week of September 3. This exam will be counted 10% or 0% of your total, whichever makes your grade turn out higher.


The Fine Print:

Make-up policy :

If you have a legitimate conflict with any of the exams it is your responsibility to inform me at least a week before the exam. Otherwise, makeups will only be given in case of emergency. Late homework will generally not be accepted, but please ask your TA if you have special circumstances.

Calculators :

Calculators will not be allowed for the exams. You may use them on the homework if you want, but this is discouraged, as the purpose of the homework is to prepare you for the exams.

Supplemental instruction :

Hilde Oliver runs the supplemental instruction sessions. This is a valuable resource and you are strongly encouraged to take advantage of it. Please go to ask questions and meet other students. It is a particularly good place to work on your homework.

These are held Mondays 5-6, WMBB 124, Tuesdays 4-5, HUMCB 316, Wednesdays 4-5 GAMBRL 149.

There is also free drop-in tutoring available for all 100-level math courses. The Math Tutoring Center in LC 105 is open (free, drop-in) Monday-Thursday from 11am until 3pm. Additionally, there is free, drop-in tutoring in Bates House, Columbia Hall, and Patterson Hall Monday-Thursday 7:30-10pm, and Swearingen Engineering Center MW 12-5pm. More details, and online tutoring is also available.

Other help resources : Math lab, Private tutors .


Schedule of lectures, homeworks, and exams:

On starred (*) days I will be out of town and a substitute will fill in for me.

Homeworks are not always due on the same days of the week. This could be a bit annoying (my apologies), but it was done to make sure no one homework is excessively long.

At this point, homeworks are slightly subject to change, but:

The schedule:

Final Exam Review and Extra Credit. The bonus is in the form of four practice final exams, and you can turn them in for extra credit. Each one is worth half a homework assignment, so you can get extra credit equal to two homeworks total. They are due at (or before) the final exam. If you finish them early, bring them to me and I will grade them and give you feedback. Practice Exam 1, Practice Exam 2, Practice Exam 3, Practice Exam 4,