MAP 2302: Elementary Differential Equations
University of Florida, Fall 2011


Instructor information:

Vince Vatter
Office: Little Hall 412
Office hours: Mondays 1:55–2:45, Wednesdays 3:00–3:55, and by appointment
Office phone: (352) 392-0281 extension 245
Email: vatter at ufl dot edu

Text:

Fundamentals of Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems, 6th edition, by Nagle, Saff, and Snider.

Course Objectives:

First-order ordinary differential equations, theory of linear ordinary differential equations, solution of linear ordinary differential equations with constant coefficients, the Laplace transform and its application to solving linear ordinary differential equations. The actual selection of topics will be much like previous installments.

Grading:

We will have four in-class midterm exans and a comprehensive final exam. The dates of the in-class midterm exams are:

The midterms will collectively count for 70% of your grade. The final exam will count for 30%. No scores will be dropped.

The final grades will be curved, but will be no tougher than the 10-point scale: 90%–100% will be some form of A, 80–90% will be at least some form of B, etc. After each midterm, you will receive a projected grade.

If you have a disagreement with the grading of one of your solutions, I ask that you submit a written request for reconsideration within one month.

Tentative Schedule:

LectureDateTopicsSection(s)
1 M 8/22 Introduction 1.3 & 2.2
2 W 8/24 Separable equations
Suggested exercises: 1–21 odds
2.2
3 F 8/26 Linear equations
Suggested exercises: 1–15 odds
2.3
4 M 8/29 Explicit & implicit solutions
Suggested exercises: 1, 3, 5, 7, 15 (Section 1.2)
1.2
5 W 8/31 Existence & uniqueness for first order IVPs
Suggested exercises: 23, 25, 27, 29, 31 (Section 1.2), 1, 5, 17 (Section 1.3)
1.2 & 1.3
6 F 9/2 Exact equations
Suggested exercises: 1–15 odds, 21, 23
2.4
M 9/5 Class canceled for Labor Day
7 W 9/7 Transformations & Bernoulli equations
Suggested exercises: 1–11 odds, 17, 19, 21–25 odds
2.6
F 9/9 Review for Midterm #1
Review problems: pdf or tex
Review solutions: pdf or tex
M 9/12 Midterm #1: pdf or tex
Solutions to Midterm #1: pdf
8 W 9/14 Second-order linear homogeneous differential equations I
Suggested exercises: See Friday 9/16
4.2 & 4.3
9 F 9/16 Second-order linear homogeneous differential equations II
Suggested exercises: 1–19 odds (Section 4.2) and 9–27 odds (Section 4.3)
4.2 & 4.3
10 M 9/19 The method of undetermined coefficients I
Suggested exercises: 9, 11, 13, 15 (Section 4.4) and 3, 5, 7, 17, 19 (Section 4.5)
4.4 & 4.5
11 W 9/21 The method of undetermined coefficients II
Suggested exercises: 17, 19, 21 (Section 4.4) and 23–29 odds (Section 4.5)
4.4 & 4.5
F 9/23 Group review of the method of undetermined coefficients: pdf or tex
12 M 9/26 Variation of parameters I
Suggested exercises: 1– 17 odds
4.6
13 W 9/28 Variation of parameters II 4.6
F 9/30 Review for Midterm #2
Review problems: pdf or tex
Official formula sheet: pdf
Review solutions: pdf or tex
M 10/3 Midterm #2: pdf or tex
Solutions to Midterm #2: pdf
14 W 10/5 The Laplace transform I
Suggested exercises: none!
7.2 & 7.3
15 F 10/7 The Laplace transform II
Suggested exercises: 1–11 odds (Section 7.2) and 1–21 odds (Section 7.3)
7.2 & 7.3
16 M 10/10 The inverse Laplace transform
Suggested exercises: 1–29 odds
7.4
17 W 10/12 Solving IVPs with the Laplace transform
Suggested exercises: 15–23 odds
7.5
F 10/14 Group review: pdf or tex
Solutions: pdf or tex
7.6
18 M 10/17 Piecewise and periodic functions I
Suggested exercises: 1–17 odds, 29, 31 (piecewise functions)
7.6
19 W 10/19 Piecewise and periodic functions II
Suggested exercises: 21–31 odds, 41 (periodic functions)
7.6
F 10/21 Group review: pdf or tex
Solutions: pdf or tex
20 M 10/24 Impulses and the Dirac Delta
Suggested exercises: 1–19 odds
7.8
W 10/26 Review for Midterm #3
Review problems: pdf or tex
Official formula sheet: pdf
Review solutions: pdf or tex
F 10/28 Midterm #3: pdf or tex (special guest proctor!)
Solutions to Midterm #3: pdf
21 M 10/31 Review of power series
Suggested exercises: none, but please do practice with Taylor series
8.2, or lecture notes
22 W 11/2 Power series solutions to ODEs
Suggested exercises: 11–27 odds.
8.3
F 11/4 Class canceled for Homecoming
23 M 11/7 More of the same
Suggested exercises: 13, 15, 21, 23, 29
8.4
24 W 11/9 Cauchy-Euler equations
Suggested exercises: 1–10 odds (Section 8.5)
8.5, or lecture notes
F 11/11 Class canceled for Veterans Day
25 M 11/14 Ordinary vs. singular points & Method of Frobenius
Suggested exercises: 1–9 odds (Section 8.3) and 1, 3, 5, 11, 17, 19, 21, 25 (Section 8.6).
8.6 (with bits of 8.3)
26 W 11/16 Springs (special guest lecturer!) 4.1
F 11/18 Review for Midterm #4
Review problems: pdf or tex
Review answers: text file
M 11/21 Midterm #4: pdf or tex (special guest proctor!)
Solutions to Midterm #4: pdf
27 W 11/23 Highly optional discussion of Midterm #4
F 11/25 Class canceled for Thanksgiving
28 M 11/28 The mass-spring analogy
Suggested exercises: 11, 15
4.8 (pgs. 206–209 only)
29 W 11/30 Free mechanical vibrations I
Suggested exercises: 1–13 odds
4.9
30 F 12/2 Free mechanical vibrations II 4.9
M 12/5 Review for final exam I
Review problems: pdf or tex
Review solutions: pdf or tex
W 12/7 Review for final exam II
Final exam: You may take the final exam on either Wednesday 12/14 or Friday 12/16, but you may only take the exam once! The two different days will be given two different exams. The classrooms and times are as follows:
  • Wednesday 12/14, 3:00--5:00: Little 203 for the 9:35--10:25 section, Little 217 (our normal classroom) for the 10:40--11:30 section.
  • Friday 12/16, 10:00--12:00: Little 205 for both sections.