Exam Info and Solutions

Links to old courses — you can find solutions to old exams from some previous courses I have given, if you want. This may give you a sense of the style of the exams, though you probably won't find one that covers the exact same topics.

Information about Exam I — Exam I will be held in the usual room at the usual class time, on Wednesday September 19. It will start promptly at the beginning of the class period, so make sure you're on time. The test will cover sections 12.1 - 12.4 and 10.1 - 10.3. However, the following items will not be covered:

• "Direction angles and Direction cosines" on page 850
• "Torque" on pages 860-861
• "Surface Area" on page 694

The test will have four or five problems, possibly with several parts each. It will be graded with a total of 60 points.

The following topics are likely to be covered, though the exam is not limited to these topics:

• working with vectors, symbolically (using properties) and geometrically
• dot product and cross product: computing them, geometric interpretation
• applications of dot product and cross product to geometry
• parametrized curves: computing slopes, arc length
• polar coordinates: converting between polar and rectangular coordinates, understanding regions, graphing curves

Advice: I recommend first reviewing homework problems from each section. You should have done all the assigned problems at the very least, and trying others as well is a good idea. If you get one wrong, don't skip ahead, but tackle it right away and find out how it works. There may be a similar example worked out in the book, or among one of our graded problems, or you can try getting help.

There are also extra problems at the end of each chapter, under the heading "Review Problems" which are worth looking at.

When it comes time for the test itself, try to relax and do the best you can. At this point, being calm and well-rested will be important. Also, scan through the exam problems and identify the easier ones to get out of the way first.

Solutions to Midterm I Download Solutions to Midterm I

Information about Midterm II —  Midterm II will be held in the usual room at the usual class time, on Wednesday October 17. It will start promptly at the beginning of the class period, so make sure you're on time. The test will cover sections 10.4, 12.5, 12.6, and 13.1 - 13.3. However, the subsection "Integrals" on page 899 will not be covered.

The following topics are likely to be covered, though the exam is not limited to these topics:

• areas of regions bounded by polar curves
• equations of lines, planes, and quadric surfaces
• using vectors to do geometry involving lines and planes (eg. angle between planes, distance, etc)
• working with curves - tangent lines, curvature, arc length, normal and binormal vectors

For this exam, you may bring a 4x6 (inches) card with notes on both sides. Think carefully about what you put there!

My advice for this test is the same as for the first one. Good luck!

Solutions to Midterm II Download Solutions to Midterm II

Information about Midterm III —  Midterm III will be held in the usual room at the usual class time, on Monday November 19. It will start promptly at the beginning of the class period, so make sure you're on time. The test will cover sections 11.1 - 11.7.

The following topics are likely to be covered, though the exam is not limited to these topics: 

• meaning of convergence of a sequence, convergence of a series
• testing for convergence or divergence (divergence test, comparison test, limit comparison test, alternating series test, ratio and root tests, integral test); for each test, know what requirements need to be verified for the test to apply
• estimating the accuracy of a given partial sum (integral test, alternating series test)
• knowledge of special examples (geometric, harmonic, p-series)

For this exam, you may bring a 4x6 (inches) card with notes on both sides. Think carefully about what you put there!

My advice for this test is the same as for the others. Good luck!

Solutions to Midterm III Download Solutions to Midterm III

Information about the Final Exam — The final exam will be held in the usual room, on Monday December 10, 8:00 -- 10:00 am. Please try to get there on time. The test will cover the same material as the Midterms, as well as sections 11.8 -- 11.10. There will be some slight emphasis on this new material, but at least half of the exam will be on older material. Regarding the new sections, the following topics are likely to come up:

• expressing f(x) as a power series at a, and finding its radius of convergence
• using derivatives and integrals to find power series
• Taylor and Maclaurin series - the meaning of the coefficients of a power series

You may bring three 4x6 inch cards with notes on both sides. Good luck!

Solutions to the Final exam Download Solutions to the Final exam