Back to main page Math 53: Multivariable Calculus (Fall 2021)

Announcements

8/30 For DIS 204: I made a mistake going over problem 10.2#52; I forgot that the curve could trace itself backwards! I will make this correction in class on Wednesday.
8/27 Midterm dates as told to me by Prof. Sethian: September 30 and November 4. Table below updated with my office hours.

Contents of this page

This semester, I am teaching two discussion sections (201 and 204) of Math 53 with James Sethian.

Section Meeting Times Location
25986 Lecture 002 TuTh 08:00-09:30 Online
22097 Discussion 201 MoWeFr 08:00-09:00 Evans 4
22099 Discussion 204 MoWeFr 09:00-10:00 Evans 6
My Office Hours We 16:00-17:00 and Fr 15:00-16:00 Evans 1093 or Zoom
James Sethian's Office Hours TBA TBA

Links

⬑Back to top

Here are some useful links for this course:
  • Prof. Sethian's page for this course
  • bCourses
  • Gradescope for my sections specifically.

    Homework and Quizzes

    ⬑Back to top

    Homework should be handed in physically during Monday discussion. It will be graded based on completion, and it needs to be handwritten. If you are feeling unwell on a Monday, please do not come to class; in this scenario you are welcome to email me your homework instead. I will not return homework in discussion, so if you want a copy for your records, you should copy/scan/photograph your work before submitting it. You can come retrieve homework from my office if you like (but remember, I am only grading on completion anyway).

    Quizzes will take place on most Fridays (excepting exam weeks); the first will be on Sept. 3. Their scope is material up to the Tuesday lecture of that same week. There will be some conceptual and short answer questions, and then one longer problem that is very similar to the homework.

    Your section grade will be split evenly between homework and quizzes. I'll drop your lowest two homework scores and your lowest two quiz scores. Again, please do not come to class if you are feeling unwell, even if it is on a "quiz day"! That's why the drops are there.

    Materials

    ⬑Back to top

    Week 1

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #1 8/27 Cartesian and parametric equations. Unified perspective on applying transformations. Worksheet and answers. There were additional problems on the worksheet distributed in class, but those will be recycled for Monday.

    Week 2

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #2 8/30 Went over a lot of requested problems from HW1. Worksheet and answers.
    #3 9/01 Polar coordinates. Worksheet and answers.
    #4 9/03 Quiz 1. "Dot" and "cross" products. Worksheet and answers.
    Quiz, solutions, and stats.

    Week 3

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    9/06 No class
    #5 9/08 Homework problems. Various methods for computing the distance from a point to a line (as practice with manipulating vectors). Worksheet and answers.
    #6 9/10 Quiz 2. A general discussion of parametrization vs equations, and methods for reducing multivariable problems to single variable ones. Quiz, solutions, and stats.

    Week 4

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #7 9/13 Limits and continuity. Homework problems. No handout
    #8 9/15 Partial derivatives and the MVC chain rule. Worksheet and answers.
    #9 9/17 Quiz 3. Demonstration of a gradient problem akin to the homework exercises. Quiz, solutions, and stats.

    Week 5

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #10 9/20 Various homework problems. Worksheet and answers.
    #11 9/22 More homework problems. Different ways of getting a tangent plane equation (don't mix them up!). Worksheet and answers.
    #12 9/24 Quiz 4. Practice midterm and solutions.
    Quiz, solutions, and stats.

    Week 6

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #13 9/27 Midterm review. No handout
    #14 9/29 Practice midterm review. No handout, but see the previous week for the practice midterm.
    10/1 No class

    Week 7

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #15 10/4 Lagrange multipliers. Worksheet and answers.
    #16 10/6 Conceptual questions that Prof. Sethian sent out. Worksheet and answers.
    #17 10/8 Quiz 5 on Lagrange multipliers. Quiz, solutions, and stats.

    Week 8

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #18 10/11 More on 15.1-15.2 Worksheet and answers.
    #19 10/13 Double integrals via switching to polar coordinates. Gaussian integral example. Worksheet and answers.
    #20 10/15 Quiz 6 on double integrals. Quiz, solutions, and stats.

    Week 9

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #21 10/18 Triple integrals Worksheet and answers.
    #22 10/20 Change of variables. Worksheet and answers.
    #23 10/22 Quiz 7 on 15.5-15.9. Quiz, solutions, and stats.

    Week 10

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #24 10/25 More on Jacobians, and some line integrals. Worksheet and answers.
    #25 10/27 Work line integrals, conservative vector fields. Worksheet and answers.
    #26 10/29 Quiz 8 on line integrals. Practice midterm and solutions.
    Quiz, solutions, and stats.

    Week 11

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #27 11/1 Review of various ways to tackle line integrals. Worksheet and answers.
    #28 11/3 Practice midterm review. No handout, but see the previous week for the practice midterm.
    11/5 No class

    Week 12

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #29 11/8 Gradient, curl, and divergence. Worksheet and answers.
    #30 11/10 Parametric surfaces. Worksheet and answers.
    #31 11/12 Quiz 9 on div, curl, and parametric surfaces. Worksheet and answers.
    Quiz solutions, and stats.

    Week 13

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #32 11/15 Quiz 9 solutions. Worksheet and answers.
    #33 11/17 Flux integrals and Stokes' Theorem. Worksheet and answers.
    #34 11/19 Quiz 10 on Flux integrals and Stokes' Theorem. Quiz, solutions, and stats.

    Week 14

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #35 11/22 Chapter 16 potpourri. Worksheet and answers.
    11/24 No class
    11/26 No class

    Week 15

    Corresponding Content and Comments Materials
    #36 11/29 Miscellaneous problems. Worksheet and answers.
    #37 12/1 Miscellaneous problems. Worksheet and answers.
    #38 12/3 Lots of miscellaneous problems. Worksheet and answers.