INSTRUCTOR:  Dr. Mark Parker          

OFFICE:  119 Science                                        OFFICE PHONE: 447-4572

E-MAIL:  mparker@carroll.edu                    OFFICE HOURS: MWF 3:00-5:00

TR 9:00-10:00

Course Description:

This course will branch beyond the problems we have encountered in previous courses, which, believe it or not, were fairly easily solved by exact techniques.  We will examine approximation techniques for numerically solving real-world problems arising in engineering, the physical and life sciences, the social sciences, and computer science.  My goal for the course is that you will understand how to apply these techniques, when they are appropriate, and how to interpret the results.

We will use Mathematica quite frequently in this course, rather than spending time learning a traditional programming language.  To expand our knowledge of Mathematica and its capabilities, we will usually spend one day a week (Thursday) in the Science Building Computer lab (Room 147).  Stay tuned in class to see where we meet.

Textbook:

Applied Numerical Analysis by Gerald and Wheatley, 6^th edition, published by Addison-Wesley, 1999.

Course Grading:

·        Homework Sets      10% of final grade

Homework problems from the text will be assigned and collected approximately weekly.  Each homework set will carry the same weight in determining your final average, and I will grade each problem on a 4 point scale (0 to 3 points).  Homework will be due at the beginning of class on the due date, to make sure that we all participate in class.

·        Project Reports     30% of final grade

Three lab projects will be assigned during the semester, each contributing 10% towards your grade.  These will require analysis and comparison of several algorithms we cover in class.

·        Exams               40% of final grade

There will be two in-class exams during the semester.  While these exams focus on material since the preceding one, to help tie together concepts, there may be questions from prior material.

·        Final Exam       20% of final grade

The final exam will be comprehensive covering material from the entire semester.

Other Information:

As our journey progresses this semester, you may come by my office and say “Mark, you’ve shrunk and changed gender!”  Not exactly, you see, my wife (Holly Zullo) and I are sharing both an office and a job.  I’ll be on campus MWF afternoons and TR mornings.  Holly will be in the office MWF mornings and TR afternoons, at which time I’ll be at home reverting to childhood with our almost-three-year-old daughter.  If you need to see me at time other than when I’m normally on campus, feel free to call me at home and we can arrange a meeting time.

Although I don’t take attendance, you should plan to attend class to facilitate your learning.  If you will need to miss class on the date of an exam or assignment hand-in, please contact me as soon as possible, preferably before class.  I don’t typically give make-up exams – if you have a legitimate excuse, we can make other arrangements for missed assignments.

I welcome your constructive comments to help me make this the best course possible.  The key to your success in this course depends mainly upon your attitude, your study habits, and your desire to learn.  My role is a facilitator; without your participation, I can’t help you learn.  Good luck!

MA 342: Numerical Computing and Visualization

TENTATIVE SYLLABUS                FALL 2000

  Lesson and Topic  Reading Sections

Aug 29      Introduction 

Aug 31      Calc Review      Appendix A

Sep 5      Computer Arithmetic and Errors      0.1 - 0.5

Sep 7      Errors and Algorithmic Efficiency      0.6 - 0.7

Sep 12      Bisection Algorithm, Golden Ratio      1.1 - 1.2

Sep 14      Secant Method, False Position      1.3

Sep 19      Newton’s Method      1.4

Sep 21      Fixed-Point Iteration      1.6

Sep 26      Multiple Roots 1.10

Sep 28      Convergence   1.11

Oct 3      EXAM #1  

Oct 5      Interpolation; Lagrange Polynomials      3.1 – 3.2

Oct 17      Divided Differences      3.3

Oct 19      Cubic Spline      3.4

Oct 24      Fourier Series      4.4

Oct 26      Numerical Differentiation      5.1 – 5.3 (5.15)

Oct 31      Extrapolation Techniques      5.4 (5.15)

Nov 2      Newton-Cotes Integration      5.5

Nov 7      Numerical Integration      5.6 – 5.7 (5.15)

Nov 9      Gaussian Quadrature      5.9 – 5.10

Nov 14      Multiple Integrals      5.11 – 5.12

Nov 16      Fourier Transforms      5.14

Nov 21      EXAM #2  

Nov 23      Thanksgiving Break    

Nov 28      Intro to Numerical Solution of ODEs 6.1 – 6.2

Nov 30      Euler Methods      6.3

Dec 5      Runge-Kutta Methods       6.4

Dec 7      Multi-Step Methods       6.5

Dec 12      Review  

Dec 15      FINAL EXAM      1:00 – 2:45