MATH 141-A2

Instructors

  • Zhihe Li
    Lectures: MTWR 9:00AM - 11:15AM (EST)
    Zoom link:
    Office: Hylan 713
    Office Hours (zoom): Tuesday/Wednesday 12:00 – 1:00 p.m(EST).
    E-mail: zli154 at ur dot rochester dot edu

Textbook

Calculus: Early Transcendentals, 9th edition by Clegg, Stewart, and Watson

Course description

MATH 141 is a first course in calculus where a detailed study of differential calculus and some of its applications is conducted. Calculus is fundamental to mathematics, and is widely used in computer science, physics, economics, mathematical modeling, and data science, among other fields.

The main topics that this course covers are as follows:
  • Elementary real functions: algebraic, trigonometric, exponential and logarithmic.
  • Inverses, composites and graph of functions.
  • Limits and asymptotes.
  • Continuity
  • Derivatives and rules of differentiation.
  • Linear Approximation and differentials.
  • The mean value theorem and extreme values.
  • Curve sketching and L’Hospital’s rule.

This course does not assume any prior calculus knowledge and hence it starts with pre-calculus material.

Grading Policy

Your grade will be determined by the following weights:

  • Homework (20%)
  • Midterm 1 (25%)
  • Midterm 2 (25%)
  • Final Exam (30%)

Class

You will need a Zoom account to attend the lectures and office hours, and a working webcam. Attendance is not mandatory, but strongly encouraged. Lecture recordings and notes will be posted on the course’ s webpage, after each meeting.

Our class is relatively small compared to full-semester classes, and participation and class engagement are strongly encouraged. From my experience and to create dynamism in class, I suggest that you keep your cameras on if you have the facility. I also suggest having your microphones muted, but you are free to unmute them if you want to ask a question in class.

Exam

Exams will be at the time of the class. The Final Exam will have two parts. Part A will be on material tested in Midterms 1 & 2 and Part B will be on material not tested in either Midterm. Your score in Part A will replace the lower of your Midterm scores if doing so improves your grade. There will be no makeup exams.

If you miss a Midterm, then Part A of the Final Exam will replace that score. **Note that only one Midterm score may be