Math 142: Mathematical Modeling, Fall 2010

Announcements

• December 8: The grades of your final exams and the final grades for the course have been uploaded to the MyUCLA Gradebook. The solutions to the final exam can be downloaded here: version 1 and version 2. (Be aware there may be typos. Let me know if you find any.) I hope you enjoyed the course. Have a nice break.
• December 3: Next Monday, December 6, there will be two extra office hour sessions: At 10:30 a.m. in IPAM 1180 the TA will have extra office hours; at 3:00 p.m. I will have extra office hours. Good luck with your exam preparations and enjoy.
• November 23: For tomorrow's homework, some parts of exercises 50.12 and 50.13 require you to analyze a linear system of ODEs. If you are familiar with how to do this, it's good practice, if not, then feel free to skip those parts of the question (Section 47 has more information on this if you are interested). In particular this means that in 50.12 you will need to derive the linear system, but not analyze it. For 50.13 part (a) is difficult to do without having completed 50.12. Parts (b) and (c) should be doable. In part (d) just combine all the information you did manage to find, even if you skipped part (a).
• November 22: The location of the final exam will be Boelter 2444. I have also added this information to the Course Organization Handout.
• November 19: Due to popular request I will move my office hours next week from Wednesday November 24 to Tuesday November 23. Time: 1:30--3:00 p.m.
• November 17: Homework questions 72.3 and 72.4 (due November 19) in the book are ambiguously phrased. Once the light has turned green, it stays green. It does not alternate between red and green.
• November 17: A minor typo was discovered in the extra homework exercise which is due November 19. Here is the corrected version.
• November 15: Here are the solutions of the second midterm: version 1 and version 2. (Be aware there may be typos. Let me know if you find any.)
• November 14: Thanks to a student's sharp eye (thank you!) three typos have been fixed in the `notation' handout. In the first paragraph on page 4 there were three occasions where I had written "u" instead of "q".
• November 12: Professor Micheli has written a handout on the chain rule for his Math 32A class. If you need to brush up on the chain rule, you might profit from it.
• November 11: Because notational issues seem to be causing a lot of confusion, I've written a handout addressing these.
• November 11: I have put homework up a day early this week, since some of it might be useful preparation in studying for the midterm as well (since Section 71 is part of the midterm material and so is the chain rule).
• November 10: This week, because of Veterans Day, the TA's Thursday office hours are moved to today, Wednesday November 10, 12:30--1:30 p.m. Tomorrow, Thursday November 11, I will have extra office hours at 9 a.m.
• November 8: We are one week away from the second midterm. See the calendar below for location and material that is included in the midterm.
• November 8: This Thursday, November 11, there will be no discussion section because of Veterans Day. If there is enough interest I am willing to hold extra office hours this Thursday. I will be polling the class on Wednesday on whether there is interest and which time would be best.
• November 8: The traffic wave video I showed in class today can be found here.
• November 3: I have put up the homework for next week early this week. See below.
• October 22: If you have not yet picked up your midterm, please do so next week before or after class, or during my office hours.
• October 20: Here are the solutions of the midterm: version 1 and version 2. (Be aware there may be typos. Let me know if you find any.)
• October 15: The first midterm will be held Wednesday October 20, 9:00-9:50 am, in MS 5200. Arrive early so we can start at 9 am. Bring your university ID. Have a look at the front-page of the midterm, so you know what is expected from you. Locations for both midterms have been added to the Course Organization Handout.
• October 15: The exercises discussed in yesterday's discussion section can be found here.
• October 11: Because of the midterm I will move my Wednesday office hours next week to Tuesday, i.e. the office hours will be on Tuesday October 19, 1:30--3:00 pm, instead of on Wednesday October 20.
• October 11: The material for the first midterm will include all the sections we treated in class up to and including today, i.e. sections 30--34, 37--43, and 48--49. That includes what we've done in class, the sections in the book, and the homework exercises. The exercises in the book that were not part of the homework are good practice. Try them!
• October 8: Due to popular demand the TA has changed his Tuesday office hours. The updated times can be found in the new version of the Course Organization Handout. N.B. Read the other two announcements I've put up today as well.
• October 8: All the sections we have discussed so far (30--34 and 37--42; this includes the text in the book, the classes, and the homework) will be part of the first midterm's material. Next week in class and on this website I will announce which if any extra sections will be included.
• October 8: Use the book! Study all the sections we have treated in class. You are expected to know and understand these sections, even if not every little detail was discussed in class. The book is also a good source for practice material. Any exercise from the sections we have discussed is fair game and you should be able to do them if you understand the material (with some rare exceptions that rely on earlier sections we have skipped).
• October 1: The class has an overwhelming preference for different office hours on Wednesday, so I have changed them. The new times can be found in another update of the Course Organization Handout.
• September 29: An observant student noticed a typo in the Course Organization Handout. My office is MS 7620-C (not 6720-C as was printed previously). Thank you! The mistake has been fixed.
• September 27: After consulting the class on their preferences for the midterm dates, the dates have been changed. Please download the updated version of the Course Organization Handout.
• September 24: On this website I will announce a tentative schedule for the upcoming lecture(s). I encourage you to read the sections before class so you know what to expect.
• September 20: This space will be used for announcements. Check back regularly to see if there is news. The newest items will appear at the top of the list. Enjoy the course!

Homework

• Due Oct. 1: 32: 1, 3, 13, 14, 15;   33: 1, 3;   34.7. Because not everyone has a textbook yet, I have typed out this week's exercises.
• Due Oct. 8: 34.5;   37.2;   38: 1, 2, 3;   39: 1, 2, 4;   40.2;   two extra exercises.
• Due Oct. 15: 40: 3, 6;   41: 1, 2, 3;   42: 2, 3, 16;   49: 1, 2;   Extra Exercise 3;   study Sections 30--34, 37--43, 48--50 (i.e. all the sections we have treated or will discuss in week 3);   read Sections 44--47 (i.e. the sections I will be skipping, but are still worthwhile to read, because they give more background to some of the things we will be doing.)
• Due Oct. 22: 50: 1, 2, 3, 9, 11
• Due Oct. 29: 50: 4, 5, 14;   51.2;   53.2;   57: 1, 3, 4;   58.1;   59: 1, 2, 3
• Due Nov. 5: 60: 2, 3;   61: 1, 3;   63: 1, 5, 7;   65: 1, 3;   66.1
• Due Nov. 12: 67: 2, 3, 4;   68: 1, 2;   69: 1, 2;   71: 1, 5, 6
• Due Nov. 19: 71: 4, 9;   72: 3, 4, 5;   Extra Excercise 4
• Due Wednesday!!! Nov. 24. You can also turn this in during either the TA's office hours or my office hours on Tuesday Nov. 23: 50: 12, 13;   73: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7
• Due Dec. 3: 77: 1, 3, 4, 5;   78: 1, 2, 4, 7, 8;   read Section 79

Calendar and classes

• Friday Sept. 24: Sections 30, 31, 32
• Monday Sept. 27: Sections 33, 34
• Wednesday Sept. 29: Sections 37, 38
• Friday Oct. 1: Finished Section 38, discussed 39, and started with 40
• Monday Oct. 4: Continued Section 40
• Wednesday Oct. 6: Finished Section 40 and started Section 41
• Friday Oct. 8: Finished Section 41 and treated Section 42
• Monday Oct. 11: Sections 43, 48, 49 (I will be skipping Sections 44--47 and only discuss the bits we need in the future as we use them. However, read those sections to get an impression of how what we will be doing fits into the larger theory.)
• Wednesday Oct. 13: Started Section 50
• Friday Oct. 15: Continued Section 50
• Monday Oct. 18: Finished Section 50, Read Sections 51, 52, 53 for yourself (and 54 and 55 if you are interested). Finished part about population dynamics.
• Wednesday Oct. 20: Midterm 1, during class time, location MS 5200: The midterm material includes sections 30--34, 37--43, and 48--49. That includes what we've done in class, the sections in the book, and the homework exercises.
• Friday Oct. 22: Started the part on traffic flow: Sections 56, 57 and started 58
• Monday Oct. 25: Finished Section 58, treated Section 59, started Section 60
• Wednesday Oct. 27: Finished Section 60
• Friday Oct. 29: Sections 61, 62, and 63 (mainly 61 and 63, although I recommend reading 62 on your own)
• Monday Nov. 1: Section 65, started Section 66 (Finally we started analyzing some PDEs!)
• Wednesday Nov. 3: Finished Section 66, started Section 67
• Friday Nov. 5: Finished Section 67, continued with Section 68
• Monday Nov. 8: Finished last part of Section 68, continue with Sections 69 and 71
• Wednesday Nov. 10: Finished Section 71, started Section 72
• Thursday Nov. 11: No discussion section: Veterans Day
• Friday Nov. 12: Continued Section 72
• Monday Nov. 15: Midterm 2, during class time, location FRANZ 2258A: The midterm material includes all the sections we have treated up to and including Section 71. This means all the material that was included in Midterm 1 plus Sections 50--53, 56--63, 65--69 and 71. As in Midterm 1 that includes what we've done in class, the sections in the book, and the homework exercises.
• Wednesday Nov. 17: Finished Section 72, started Section 73
• Friday Nov. 19: Continued Section 73
• Monday Nov. 22: Finished Section 73, treated Sections 75, 76
• Wednesday Nov. 24: Section 77
• Thursday Nov. 25: No discussion section: Thanksgiving Day
• Friday Nov. 26: No class: Day after Thanksgiving Day
• Monday Nov. 29: Started Section 78
• Wednesday Dec. 1: Finished Section 78 and treated Section 79. At the end of the class course evaluation forms were handed out
• Friday Dec. 3: Section 80, up to and including top of page 368. Read the remainder yourself.
• Tuesday Dec. 7: Final exam, 11:30 am -- 2:30 pm, location Boelter 2444: The exam material includes everything we have done this quarter (class, book , homework). In particular this means the following sections from the book: 30--34, 37--43, 48--53, 56--63, 65--69, 71--73, 75--80.