Math 2552 (D, F sec.)   Differential equations, fall 2019

Syllabus

Instructor: Chongchun Zeng

Overview: Various analytic solution methods of elementary differential equations. Applications of differential equations to real world problems with modeling. Qualitative studies of solutions emphasizing stability/instability.

Course Goals and Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to solve first order linear diff eqs, solveseparable diff eqs, solve linear systems of diff eqs with constant coefficients, solve higher order linear diff eqs with constant coefficients, solve some real world problems by using diff eqs, analyze the stability/instability of solutions of some linear and nonlinear diff eqs, and numerical methods.

Prerequisites: MATH 1502 OR MATH 1512 OR MATH 1555 OR MATH 1504 ((MATH 1552 OR MATH 15X2 OR MATH 1X52) AND (MATH 1522 OR MATH 1553 OR MATH 1554 OR MATH 1564 OR MATH 1X53)). We will need to do a lot of calculus (differentiation and integration) and linear algebra (solving linear systems and computing eigenvalues and eigenvectors).

Textbook: Differential Equations: An Introduction to Modern Methods & Applications, by James R. Brannan and William E. Boyce (Third edition); John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (Publisher's website for the text) We plan to cover chp 1-8. 

Participation: Attendance in classes is mandatory. Students are expected to read the material before each lecture. It is suggested that you start to work on homework problems right after they are assigned instead of waiting too long. 

Grades: 1 final exam 39%, 2 midterm 20% each, 7 best quizzes 3% each (More quizzes might be given but only the best 7 scores will be counted.) . 

• Exams: The final will be 2 hours and 50 minutes for which the schedule can be found at the GT final exam calender webpage. The 50-minute midterms are tentatively scheduled to be given during the studio/recitation sessions on Mon. Sept. 23rd and Mon. Oct. 21st. All the exams are "closed book" and  "closed notes". Calculators, computers, electronic devices etc. are not allowed. Please circle the final answer of each problem in a box with no corrections inside. There will be no make-up for any missed exams, except under provable impossibility to attend the exam (contact Dr. Zeng). 
• Quizzes: Pop-up quizzes of roughly 20 minutes each will take place in the recitation sessions. They may not be announced in advance. The quizzes are open-textbook and open-notes, except the solution part in the back of the textbook.

• Homework (not collected): Although homework will not be collected, the importance of exercises can never be over-emphasized. Some problems in the exams or quizzes will be chosen from the assigned exercises. Homework will be assigned regularly and put on this webpage in the below. You may discuss the homework problems with other students in this class, but you are encouraged to complete the homework independently. Questions on these problems can be raised and discussed in the studio/recitation sessions.

• Grades: In general your final grade will be assigned as a letter grade according to the following scale:
• A 90-100%
• B 77-89.99%
• C 65-76.99%
• D 55-64.99%
• F 0-54.99%

          When needed, a curve (within each section) may be applied to adjust the letter grades upward.                                                              

More Course info:                                                                                                 

• Course website: http://people.math.gatech.edu/~zengch/fall2019/fall2019math2552.html includes the most updated assignments as well as basic course information, syllabus, etc.
• CANVAS will be mainly used for the gradebook and announcements (assignments may not be the most updated there).
• CROWDMARK will be used to return the exams (midterms and the final exam).
• Piazza (online discussion forum linked through CANVAS): The Piazza forum is catered to getting your help fast and efficiently from classmates and others. Rather than emailing questions to the teaching staff, you may post your questions on Piazza if your questions have nothing to do with your privacy. You may post on Piazza anonymously if that makes you more comfortable. Everyone in class should feel absolutely free to ask questions, discuss, help, comment, explore, and exchange ideas on Piazza. Sign up at piazza.com/gatech/fall2019/math2552df

Suggested Schedule

Homework assignments: 

• Assigned on Tue. 8/20: Sec. 1.1  2, 6, 10;  Sec1.3.  3, 11, 17;   Sec. 1.2  3, 14, 19, 25, 26, 28
• Assigned on Thu. 8/22: Sec. 2.1 3, 4, 6, 13, 14, 29;
• Assigned on Tue. 8/27: Sec. 2.2  2, 7, 11, 15, 18, 22, 23;  Sec. 2.3  3, 6, 12, 13, 16, 20
  
• Assigned on Thu. 8/29: Sec. 2.4  2, 6, 9, 13, 14, 17, 23;  
• Assigned on Tue. 9/3: Sec. 2.5  4, 6, 9, 10;  Sec. 3.1  4, 11, 15, 26, 31
• Assigned on Thu. 9/5: Sec. 3.2  5, 6, 7, 18, 24, 27;  
• Assigned on Tue. 9/10: Sec. 6.1  3, 6, 8, 12, 13;  Sec. 6.2  4, 5, 8, 10, 14, 15; Sec. 3.3  7, 8, 14, 15, 22, 24, 34;
• Assigned on Thu. 9/12: Sec. 6.3  3, 4, 7, 12, 14, 16, 21;
• Announcement: 1st midterm on Mon. 9/23 in studio sessions.
  
• Assigned on Tue. 9/17: Sec. 3.4  2, 6, 7, 9, 15, 16;  Sec. 6.4  3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 13, 16
• Review complex numbers and operations
• Assigned on Thu. 9/19: No new assignment. 
• Assigned on Tue. 9/24: Sec. 3.5  4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 14;  Sec. 4.1  12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20;  
• Assigned on Thu. 9/26:  Sec. 4.2  5, 6, 9, 18, 21, 23, 26
• Assigned on Tue. 10/1:  Sec. 4.3  4, 5, 8, 13, 16, 31, 32, 37
• Assigned on Thu. 10/3:  Sec. 4.4  6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 18, 19
• Assigned on Tue. 10/8:  Sec. 4.5  3, 4, 11, 16, 19, 22, 23;  Sec. 4.6  7, 11, 14, 17, 20; 
• Assigned on Thu. 10/10: No new assignment.
  
• 2nd midterm on Mon. 10/21 in studio sessions.
• Assigned on Thu. 10/17:  Sec. 4.7  12, 17, 4, 5, 8; 
• Assigned on Tue. 10/22:  Sec. 5.1  3, 9, 13, 17, 18, 23, 28; 
• Assigned on Thu. 10/24: Sec. 5.2  5, 6, 14, 17, 21 
• Assigned on Tue. 10/29:  Sec. 5.3  5, 8, 15, 16, 21, 24;  Sec. 5.4  9, 11, 12, 15, 22, 25
• Assigned on Thu. 10/31: No new assignment. 
• Assigned on Tue. 11/5: Sec. 5.5  6, 8, 11, 16, 17, 20, 23;   Sec. 5.6  2, 4, 9, 12, 17
• Assigned on Thu. 11/7: No new assignments.
  
• Assigned on Tue. 11/12: Sec. 5.7  3, 6, 10, 13, 14, 18;  Sec. 5.8  3, 9, 15, 16, 17
• Assigned on Thu. 11/14: Sec. 7.1  6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 19
• Assigned on Tue. 11/19: Sec. 7.2  5, 8, 9, 12, 17, 22;  Sec. 7.3  2, 4, 5, 14, 15
• Assigned on Thu. 11/21:  Sec. 7.4  2, 3, 4, 6, 9
  

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