Math 304-01 Announcements

Tests

Test I

The first test covered all of Chapters 1-3. The test was returned on Wed., 27 Oct. The guidelines for interpreting your grade are these:

	A	B	C	D	F
	83-95	67-82	51-66	42-50	0-41

In Problem 7 there was a serious error! The matrix equation was missing the unknowns, which should have been the column matrix (x₁, x₂). No one caught this, not even me. I adjusted the grading to reduce the weight of this problem from 15 to 10 points, giving a total of 95 possible points.

Test II

This test covered Chapters 4-5 and Section 6.1. The test was returned on Fri., 19 Nov. The guidelines for interpreting your grade are these:

	A	B	C	D	F
	66-100	50-65	33-49	24-32	0-23

Test III

Test III was on Wednesday, November 24. It covered Chapters 6 and 7. The test was returned on Monday, December 6. The guidelines for interpreting your grade are these:

	A	B	C	D	F
	76-98	58-75	42-57	32-41	0-31

Final Exam

The guidelines for interpreting your grade are these:

	A	B	C	D	F
	123-150	93-122	63-92	53-62	0-52

The final exam was on Friday, December 17 at 8:30-10:30 a.m. in AA-G08 (which is somewhere in Academic Building A; go early to find the room!). It was comprehensive: it covered the whole course. But it had extra emphasis on Chapter 8 (that is, on what we did since the last test). I also asked about eigenvectors and diagonalization.

Quizzes

There will be quizzes, possibly unannounced. They will cover recent material for the most part.

There will probably be a quiz in the week of September 13, possibly on Monday, covering anything in Chapter 1.

Corrections to the Textbook

In Section 3.4, # 21, there'a a slight error. The ``angle between a vector and a plane'' is the complement of the angle theta, that is, it is (pi/2) - theta.
In Section 3.5, the book calls a vector perpendicular to the plane a ``normal'' but the correct name is normal vector. Sometimes people say ``normal'' as an abbreviation, but that's not the real name.
Section 6.5 is really two sections.
(I) Orthogonal matrices: pp. 338-341, 346.
(II) Change of basis in general vector spaces (not necessarily having inner product; this part has nothing to do with orthogonal matrices): pp. 341-end.
On p. 342, the book calls B the "old" basis and B' the "new" basis. But their formula is for converting B'-coordinates to B-coordinates, the same as I showed in class. It doesn't matter what you call old or new. The important thing is to know how to convert from coordinates in one basis (say, B') to coordinates in another basis, say B.
On p. 412, Figure 3 and preceding sentence: ``basis for the image space'' should be ``basis for the codomain''.

Rules for Hand-in Homework

Basic policy.

Part (about a third) of the credit for each hand-in assignment will be for turning in work, even if incorrect. (This grade will not be written on your paper.) The other part will be for how well you did. (This grade will be written on your paper.)
Each problem or part will usually get 10 ``HW points''. A HW point is worth a tiny fraction of a course point. (A course point equals 1 point on a test, for instance.) The main purpose of graded homework is for you and me to find out what you know well and what you need to study further.
You may discuss the problems with other people, indeed this is a good way to learn. However, you must write out your solution yourself. (That's also how you learn.) You may not copy.
Show your work. Answers without reasons are likely to get 0 points.
Show all the details of every step of the solution. Explain your work clearly in full sentences.
Write neatly. No rough drafts, no crossing out.
Start each new problem on a fresh page. (It doesn't matter how much blank space you leave.) The back of a sheet is a fresh page.
Staple your pages. NO folded-over corners. NO paper clips. ONLY staples. (The other methods don't hold the pages together well.)
If you tear pages out of a binder, remove the stubs completely. (They cause a great mess in a stack of 60 papers!)
I will deduct points if you don't follow these rules.
I will not accept any problem that has gross algebra errors, such as dividing by zero, calculating an inverse by (A+B)^-1 = A^-1 + B^-1, and so on. These will get an automatic zero. (Same on quizzes and tests.)

Go to 304-01 home page | homework.