Paul Dawkins

Math 3301 – Differential Equations - Fall 2018 (Sec. 1)

Class Notes
You can access copies of my class notes at http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu. The notes are viewable on the web and can be downloaded. The downloads are broken up into section, chapter and complete set so you can get as much or as little as you need. I've tried to proof read these notes as much as possible, but there are bound to be typos in them. If you should happen to find a typo please let me know so I can get if fixed up.

These notes are NOT a substitute for attending class. I've tried to make them as complete as possible, but often a good question will arise in class that I didn't think about while writing the notes. So, if you skip class you will not get the results that discussion. Also, the examples given in the notes may or may not be the same as the examples given in class. This will depend upon the section that we're covering on any given day.

Exams
Here is the tentative schedule for exams in this class. Remember that the exams in this class will cover the material listed and as such the dates are very tentative!! I will always announce the exam at least one week before it is given. It is your responsibility to get to class to find out when each exam will be given.

When I have finalized an exam date I will change the color of the date to red. At this point you will know that the exam will fall on that date.

Make Up Exams : As made clear in my information sheet handed out on the first day of classes I do NOT give makeup exams. Period. No matter what the reason. At the end of the semester I will replace your lowest exam grade with the final exam percentage. So while I do not give make up exams, as long as you miss only a single exam, your grade should not be impacted because the zero for the missed exam grade will be replaced by the final exam percentage. Note however, that only a single exam grade will be replaced with the final exam percentage so you can only miss a single exam without have serious problems with your class grade.

Disclaimer : While I make every effort to make sure that the actual exam dates (i.e. those shown in red) are accurate. I will, on occasion, need to change an exam date from that listed here. On those occasions I will make every effort to relect that change here but may not always get around to it right away. If there is ever a discrepancy between the exam date listed here and that given in class the exam date given in class is the official date. It is your responsibility to get to class to know that actual exam date.

Exam 1 : Monday September 24, 2018
Basic Concepts and First Order Differential Equations

Exam 2 : Friday October 19, 2018
Second Order Differential Equations

Exam 3 : Monday November 12, 2018
Laplace Transforms

Exam 4 : Friday November 30, 2018
Systems of Differential Equations

Final Exam : Friday December 7, 2018 from 8:00 - 10:30
All material covered in class

Grades
I've got a very simply policy for computing final grades. I do not use any kind of fancy weighting system or scales to determine your grade. At the end of the semester I remove your lowest homework grade from the list of homework grades and replace your lowest exam grade with the final exam percentage (only if it helps, of course). I then add up the remaining homework grades, your hour exam grades and the final exam grade and divide that by the total number of possible points and then compare that percentage to the standard scale given below and assign a grade accordingly. It's that simple.

Standard Scale : A : 100%- 90%, B : 89% - 80%, C : 79% - 70%, D : 69% - 60%, F : 59% - 0%

Note that the final exam is very important part of your grade. Not only does it count as part of your grade by itself, it is also used to replace the lowest exam grade (if it helps). This means that the final exam is usually anywhere from (approximately) 28% to 43% of your final grade. So take it seriously!

I strong encourage all students to compute their grade after each exam. After each exam I will include a basic point scale (using the standard scale shown above) on the exam solutions that I hand out to the class. You should add up your homework grades (without the lowest homework grade) and your exam scores and compare the number of points you have to the scale on the exam solutions. In this way you will always know where you stand in the class.

Homework Assignments/ Due Dates
Here is a list of the homework assignments for this semester. Each homework set is typically full homework set and will contain all the problems that I want you to turn in on the indicated due date (provided one has been given for that particular homework set).

Each homework set consists of my own problems that I have written. Note as well that for good or bad my own problems tend to be harder (in general) than the average text book problem.

In most classes I will also post complete solutions to each homework set. IF solutions have been made available for download for a given set of homework there are a couple of things to note. First, the solutions may not have all the graphics that were in the solutions handed out in class due to the difficulty of getting some of the graphics into the document. Second, typically those that I graded are given first, with point values, and those that weren't graded are given last. Last, due to time constraints I don't always include every step in the solutions. I will always put in what I consider to be major steps and the answer will always be given. It will up to you to fill in any missing steps. In addition, I try to keep typos from creeping in but they will on occasion happen so be forewarned!

In order to view the homework sets and solutions you will need to have the Adobe Reader installed on your computer. You can download a copy here. Our lab in Lucas 209 already has the Adobe Reader installed so you can always use one of the computers there to view the homework sets.

Disclaimer : While I make every effort to make sure that the homework sets available here and the due dates are accurate, I will on occasion have a typo in the homework set, change the due date and/or inadvertently put the wrong due date here. If there is ever a discrepancy between the due date listed here and that given in class the due date given in class is the official due date. In the case of typos I will always announce the typo the very next class period after finding the typo. I will also make every effort to get the typo corrected here, however it may take me longer to get the typo corrected here.

It is your responsibility to know the correct due dates and/or be aware of any typo fixes that I may have announced in class. In other words, make sure that you attend class!

Section/ProblemsDue DatePoints
Homework 1Friday, September 7, 201810
Homework 1 - Solutions
Homework 2 (1)Thursday, September 13, 201810
Homework 2 - Solutions
Homework 3Wednesday, September 19, 201810
Homework 3 - Solutions
Homework 4Monday, October 1, 201810
Homework 4 - Solutions
Homework 5Monday, October 8, 201810
Homework 5 - Solutions
Homework 6Monday, October 15, 201810
Homework 6 - Solutions
Homework 7Wednesday, October 24, 201810
Homework 7 - Solutions
Homework 8Wednesday, October 31, 201810
Homework 8 - Solutions
Homework 9Wednesday, November 7, 201810
Homework 9 - Solutions
Homework 10Due Date To Be Announced10
Homework 10 - Solutions
(1)Due in my office by 9:30 A.M.

Handouts
Here are a variety of handouts that you may find useful in this class. Some are copies of handouts that I've given in class and others are here because you may find them useful for one reason or another. They are in a variety of formats.

Here are the handouts for this semester that are available for download.

Here are some handouts that I generally handout to the class over the course of the semester.

Here are some downloads you may find useful.