Welcome to vector calculus, aka PC 311, aka MA 311.

!Solutions to the final are linked to the tests page!

Instructor: Stephanie DiCenzo, Barnes 222, x6218

Content: The course title doesn't quite say it all. We will cover the usual material, which is the result of combining vectors with calculus and which includes derivatives like divergence and curl, and their integral counterparts like Stokes' theorem. You will become adept at setting up and evaluating line integrals and surface integrals in a variety of coordinate systems, and you will be flinging the del operator around like old hands by the end of the block. Because we're in the physics department we will also cover a variety of topics of particular use in physics, such as complex algebra, Taylor series, the few most useful differential equations, and maybe even a philosphical introduction to Fourier analysis.

Text: We'll be using the smallest, lightest, and cheapest text you're likely to find in the physics department, Div, Grad, Curl, and All That, by H. M. Schey, a paperback published by Norton. This book is meant for physics students, and many of the problems invoke topics covered in physics courses. However, if you haven't taken physics lately, you ought still to be able to work around this. For topics not included in this book, there will be home-made handouts as needed.

Homework: There will be problems assigned every day, and doing them will be your best means of learning the material. Much of our class time is likely to be spent on a discussion of the previous night's homework; this will be far more useful to you if you have done the work or at least have tried very hard to do it. I do not like to collect homework nor to base any part of your grade on it. If you are so foolish as not to do your homework, you are unlikely to do at all well in the course.

Class: We'll convene almost every day at about 9 am, and ought to be free again by noon. You may be asked to demonstrate one of your homework problems on the board, so be ready for that. In general, we will spend time on whatever is most helpful to whoever speaks up. Bring your questions; when you run out of questions, I'll start asking questions. When it seems it will be useful, I'll preview that day's reading.

You may have noted the "almost" before the "every day" part. On the first Wednesday and Thursday I want to spend part of the day working on a project with elementary school educators, or at least I feel I ought to do this. We'll try to figure out a schedule for those two days.

Tests: We will have two or three tests during the block, and a comprehensive final on the last day of the block. The final will be worth 40-50% of your course grade. We will probably invoke the final redemption plan, in which your score on the final replaces any lower test scores. This allows you to enjoy the tests as the learning experiences they ought to be. Information about the tests, and sample problems, and so on, will appear on the tests page.

Office hours: I'm usually in my office in the afternoons, till around 6, and rarely have anything better to do than to talk to you, so please come by if you have any questions or concerns. I will be leaving early on days on which the Avalanche have home games. During lunchtime, I'm either at department meetings or seminars, or at the ice rink. If you can't skate, then you'll probably have to wait till 2 pm to find me.