Calculus I, Fall 2014

Home Teaching Research Fun Math

Math 1131, Sections W31 and W32

Office Hours (312 Waterbury):

• Monday and Wednesday from 1:30pm-2:30pm
• Friday from 11:00am-12:30pm
You can also drop in and ask me a question:
• Any time you find me in my office (Room 312).

Syllabus and Homework

• The Syllabus for Math 1131. This is your source for course pacing, grading, and some helpful hints on group work and calculators.

• You can access WebAssign using HuskyCT. Just go to our section's page, and click the link for "WebAssign Homework" on the left. If you are having trouble logging in, try using another browser. Internet Explorer and Safari do NOT appear to work. Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome appear to work.

• A list of good practice problems in the textbook.

Resources for Calculus I

Selected Class Handouts and Worksheets:

Class 29: Antiderivatives
This handout summarizes a variety of antiderivative formulas that we get for free from our derivative formulas.

Class 28: Optimization Problems
The Worksheet and Solutions summarize the main types of optimization problems we looked at in class. It also describes how to use a good "sketch" to set up and solve new optimization problems.

Class 25: Linear Approximations and Newton's Method
To get a better sense for the accuracy of linear approximations, try playing around with this interactive graphic.

The Newton's Method Slides point to one application of linear approximations.

The textbook also has a good Newton's Method interactive graphic.

Class 23: Compound Interest and L'Hospital's Rule I
A handout summarizing our discussion of interest rates.

You'll probably need to take out loans, or to invest money, at some point in your life. To help you get a concrete sense of what different interest rates mean, I've made an Interactive Graphic on Compound Interest. Try changing the different parts of the equation. What happens if you change the Starting Value? What about changing the Interest Rate, or the Period?

Class 21: Related Rates
The Worksheet and Solutions summarizes the main related problems we looked at in class. It also describes how to use a good "sketch" to set up and solve new related rates problems.

Class 10: The Derivative as a Function
To get a good gut feeling for the derivative, try playing around with this interactive graphic.

Class 9: Derivatives and Rates of Change
To get used to seeing the derivative as the limit of the average rate of change of $$f(x)$$, try playing around with this interactive graphic

Class 4: The Velocity and Tangent Problems
To get used to seeing the tangent line as the limit of the secant lines, try playing around with this interactive graphic

Class 2: Exponential and Logarithmic Functions

To get a good gut feeling for the graphs of exponential functions with different bases, try playing around with this interactive graphic

You can also explore general exponential functions using a graphing calculator or computer algebra system and this worksheet. This was created using a free and open source computer algebra system called Sage.

Class 1: Functions and Composition
We begin with a review of functions, composition, and the four ways that a function can be represented.
To suppliment this, we have handouts reviewing algebra and functions, and discussing sketching and mathematical models.

Important Textbook Information

You will need both the textbook and a WebAssign access key. The University Bookstore sells a bundle that contains both the book and the WebAssign access code. Using a link below, you can also buy the bundle online for a slightly lower price. Books purchased from other sources might not contain an access code, which can be expensive to buy on its own.

The following is adapted from the Storrs Website:

You can buy the bundled version of Calculus Early Transcendentals, Single Variable by James Stewart either at the UConn Coop or online directly from the publisher (linked below). Both the text and the Webassign code are required for this course.

The unbundled version of the book (that is, the book without a WebAssign access code) can be obtained in many places, but the cost of buying the unbundled text and the WebAssign code separately may be significantly greater.

There are three ways to purchase the text and the WebAssign access code:
1. Get the text and WebAssign access code bundled together from the publisher's special website for either single variable (1131-1132) or single variable and multivariable (1131-1132-2110). The single variable book is $75 online. 2. Get the text and WebAssign access code bundled together at the UConn Co-op. The single variable book is$100 in the bookstore.
3. You can, but we do not recommend, buy the WebAssign access code when you access your homework through HuskyCT. If you do this, the access code will cost between 95 and 110 dollars (based on the number of semesters the access code is good for). This costs much more than the bundled book with access code. Furthermore, the bundled access code will work for the life of the edition of the textbook.

How can you decide which version of the text to buy?

• If you only plan to take Math 1131 and 1132 then you should purchase the single-variable version of the textbook.
• If you plan to take Math 1131, 1132, and 2110 (multivariable calculus) then you should purchase the heavier book Calculus Early Transcendentals by Stewart. This version also includes chapters on multivariable calculus.