Math 124

Calculus II

Math 124


Instructor: Karen Acquista
E-mail: kea "at" math "dot" bu "dot" edu
Office: MCS 233
Office Telephone: 8-3314
Office Hours: Monday 9-10 am and 3-4 pm, Friday 1-2 pm
EXTRA Office Hours: Tuesday 12-4, Wednesday 12-3, Friday all day (e-mail me to set up a time)

Discussion leader: David Uminsky
E-mail: duminsky "at" math "dot" bu "dot" edu
Office: MCS 150
Office Telephone: 8-2377
Office Hours: Wednesday 2-3, Thursday 10:30-11:30
EXTRA Office Hours: Wednesday 3-5, Thursday 10-12


Textbook: Stewart, Calculus: Concepts and Contexts, 3rd edition
Extra resources: Stewart's webpage, in particular the extra material on Strategy for Integration, Strategy for Testing Series, and Linear Differential Equations.

Announcements: The final exam will take place on Monday, December 18, from 9 AM to 11 AM, in our usual classroom.

The final exam will be cumulative, with an emphasis on Taylor series and differential equations. Most questions will combine techniques from more than one area of the course. I recommend doing many problems to study for the exam, and I am happy to go over these problems during extra office hours (see above). It would also be helpful to study the problems from the midterm exams.

Unfortunately, I am not able to prepare a separate review sheet to help you study for this exam. However, as you can see from the two previous exams, the test questions will not be significantly more difficult than the problems assigned as homework. I am confident that each of you is capable of preparing your own list of problems in order to be fully prepared for the final exam.

You can pick up graded homework outside my office door (MCS 233).


Course outline: In the first part of the course, we focus on techniques of integration, including substitution, integration by parts, trigonometric substitution, and partial fractions. These topics will appear on the first exam (9/29).

Next, we move to infinite series. We'll focus on various tests for convergence, including the integral test, the comparison test, the ratio test, and the alternating series test. These topics, along with power series, will appear on the second exam (11/3).

Finally, we cover Taylor series and their applications. After Fall recess, we make a quick study of differential equations, including exact solutions for separable equations, and approximate solutions using vector fields. We also study certain simple models given by differential equations, including exponential growth/decay, the logistics equation, and (time permitting) predator-prey systems.


Policies: Grades in the course will be determined by weekly problem sets (30%), two midterm exams (20% each), and a final exam (30%).

Homework will be assigned after each class, it is highly recommended that you look at the problems as they are assigned. Homework for the week will be collected in discussion section of the following week. No late homework will be accepted.

The midterm exams will be held in class. The first exam is scheduled for Friday 9/29. It will cover techniques of integration (Sections 5.4 - 5.10). The second exam is scheduled for Monday 11/6. It will cover sequences and series (Sections 8.1 - 8.5). The final exam is scheduled for Monday 12/18. It will be a cumulative exam, which will additionally cover Taylor series (Sections 8.6 - 8.9) and differential equations (Sections 7.1 - 7.5).

Please let me know immediately if you have a conflict with any one of these dates.

Homework Assignments


Review problems for first exam
Answers to review problems for first exam