Math 152 Linear Systems

 Common Website (All Sections)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Final Exam Information

The final exam will cover everything that was covered in the course. Below is the full list:

Midterm 1 material: Sections 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, and Sections 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4 (except the subsections on MATLAB)
Midterm 2 material: Sections 3.5 (except 3.5.4),  4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.7, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 (except the subsections on MATLAB).
Material covered after midterm 2: Sections 6.1, 6.2, 6.3
Labs: The content of all labs will be covered.

Note: As stated in the course syllabus, the final exam will be strictly closed book: no books, notes, formula sheets or calculators will be allowed. NO formula sheets will be provided.

Resources
  • You can get the old final exams from the math department website (though no solutions are provided).
  • The Math Club (MATX 1119) sells booklets with several old Math 152 exams and solutions. See http://www.ubcmathclub.org/exams.php
  • In addition to these, note that there are online practice problems on webwork. You are responsible from all the webwork assignments and practice problems.
  • Math Learning Center offers drop in help and they are open for extended hours during the exam period (including evenings and Sunday). You can find their schedule here.




Midterm 2 Information and Practice Material

The following subjects will be covered: In the online notes, Sections 3.5 (excepy 3.5.4),  4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.7, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 (except the subsections on MATLAB).  This is the material that we covered in the weeks 5-9 (inclusive) of the course:

week #5 resistor networks;
week #6 Test #1; matrix multiplication; linear transformations; rotations, projections and reflections in 2D;
week #7  matrix representation and composition of linear transformations; random walks; transpose;
week #8  matrix inverse; matrix representation of resistor network problems; determinants;
week #9  determinants (cont.); complex numbers;

In addition, the content of the first four labs will be covered.

Practice Material
Here are some past midterms:
  • Test 2 from 2009 (with solutions): TTh and MWF.
  • Tests from 2010 (with solutions): TTh and MWF.
  • Tests from 2011 (with solutions): TTh and MWF
In addition to these, note that there are online practice problems on webwork -- you are responsible from assignments 5-9 (inclusive) for Midterm 2.


Feb 8  Final exam date announced: April 15, 12:00 PM
Midterm 1 Information and Practice Material

The following subjects will be covered: In the online notes, Sections 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, and Sections 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4 (except the subsections on MATLAB).  In addition, the content of the first two labs will be covered. This is the material that we covered in the first four weeks of the course:
week #1 vectors and coordinate representation; vector length, dot product, projection
week #2 determinants; cross product; lines and planes in 2D and 3D and planes in 3D (Sections
week #3 geometry of solutions of linear systems; linear dependence and independence; solving linear systems;
week #4 solving linear systems (cont.); echelon form and rank; homogeneous equations and relationship to linear dependence;

Practice Material
Here are some past midterms:
  • Tests from 2009 (with solutions): TTh and MWF.
  • Tests from 2010 (with solutions): TTh and MWF.
  • Tests from 2011 (with solutions): TTh and MWF
In addition to these, note that there are online practice problems on webwork -- you are responsible from the first 4 online assignments for Midterm 1.




Jan 16 Drop-in tutoring provided by the Mathematics Department is available, details can be found here.


OVERVIEW
The course concerns linear algebra concepts, stressing their application and their connection to geometry. For more detailed information, see:

Math 152 Learning Goals

Text: There is no commercial texbook for this course. We will follow these online notes (written by UBC professors Richard Froese and Brian Wetton). If you notice typos, please let Ozgur Yilmaz know (oyilmaz-at-math.ubc.ca). A list of any corrections will be posted on this page as they are brought to my attention.

The book “Linear Algebra and Its Applications” by David C. Lay is designated as an optional reference book.

Common course web page: http://www.math.ubc.ca/~oyilmaz/courses/m152/m152_common.html

Web pages of each section:

Section 201: Tali Pinsky 
Section 202: Jose Gonzalez
Section 203: Tali Pinsky
Section 205: Ozgur Yilmaz
Section 206: Man Chuen Cheng
Section 207: Dong Quan Nguyen
Section 208: Jozsef Solymosi

GRADING

Your grade for the course will be computed as follows:

Final:  45%
Two Midterms: 15% each
Online Homework: 10%
Labs: 10%
Other assignments/quizzes: 5%

Midterm exams
There will be two midterm exams, held in class:

Midterm 1: Wednesday, February 6 for MWF sections
                     Thursday, February 7 for Tue/Th sections
 
Midterm 2: Tuesday, March 19 for Tue/Th sections
                     Wednesday, March 20 for MWF sections

The midterm exams will be common, different for MWF sections and Tue/Th sections.

The midterm exams will be strictly closed book: no books, notes, formula sheets or calculators will be allowed.

Missing a midterm normally results in a mark of 0. Exceptions may be granted in two cases: prior consent of the instructor or a medical emergency. In the latter case, the instructor must be notified within 48 hours of the missed test, and presented with a doctor's note immediately upon the student's return to UBC. In such cases, there will be no make-up exam. Instead, the final exam mark will be adjusted to make up for the missed midterm mark.


Online homework
 Online homework for the course will be provided via the WeBWorK system. The assignments will be posted at:          https://webwork.elearning.ubc.ca/webwork2/MATH_152_ALL_2012W2/
where you need log in using your CWL. Here are some important points:

  • There will be one assignment posted per week, each due on the following Monday at 8:00 AM, with the first assignment due on Monday, January 14 at 8:00 AM.
  • Questions specifically about the the online system may be addressed to Tobias Friedel: tobias-at-math.ubc.ca.
  • Make sure you go over the "Assignment 0" (not for credit) which teaches you how to use the online homework system WeBWorK. Note that:
    • You may attempt each question many times without a penalty for a wrong answer up to a certain maximum allowed number of trials (possibly unlimited), specified for each problem. This gives you instant feedback on your attempts and an opportunity to correct your own mistakes.
    • The questions are generated randomly, and the numbers are different for each student.
    • Do the problems by yourself and without the use of other calculators (WeBWorK software itself acts as a basic calculator) or software. Note that calculators and software are not allowed in the exams, so you should practice working without them.
    • If you really get stuck, you can request help by clicking the “email instructor” button. However, it may take some time to get a response, so please don’t wait till the last minute.
    • Note that the deadlines are imposed by the system, so make sure you give yourself plenty of extra time. There will be no deadline extension and no make-up for missed online homework assignments.
Labs
You will be responsible for completing six one hour computer labs using the software, MATLAB. There are no labs during the first week of classes. You will do labs on alternating weeks starting in week 2 or 3. Note that lab material may
be tested in the midterms and in the final exam. For more information about labs, see the course lab web page:
http://www.ugrad.math.ubc.ca/~math152/

Other assignments / quizzes
The nature of these additional assignments or quizzes will be section-specific. Please see the web page of the section that you are registered in.

Final Exam
There is a common final exam for all sections of Math 152. The exam will be strictly closed book: no books, notes, formula sheets or calculators will be allowed.


DETAILED COURSE OUTLINE
All sections of MATH 152 will cover the topics listed below. Here a “week” represents approximately 150 minutes of class time, not necessarily a calendar week.

week #1 vectors and coordinate representation; vector length, dot product, projection
week #2 determinants; cross product; lines and planes in 2D and 3D and planes in 3D;
week #3 geometry of solutions of linear systems; linear dependence and independence; solving linear systems;
week #4 solving linear systems (cont.); echelon form and rank; homogeneous equations and relationship to linear dependence;
week #5 resistor networks; review
week #6 Test #1; matrix multiplication; linear transformations; rotations, projections and reflections in 2D;
week #7  matrix representation and composition of linear transformations; random walks; transpose;
week #8  matrix inverse; matrix representation of resistor network problems; determinants;
week #9  determinants (cont.); complex numbers;
week #10 eigenvalues and eigenvectors, review, Test #2
week #11 eigenvalues and eigenvectors (ctd); powers of a matrix; application of eigen-analysis to random walks;
week #12 vector differential equations; application of vector DEs to electrical networks

CALENDAR

Wed, Jan 2
 Term starts
Wed, Feb 6 / Th, Feb 7
 Midterm 1
Mon, Feb 11
 Family Day (university is closed)
Feb 18-22
 Winter break
Tue, Mar 19 / Wed Mar 20 Midterm 2
Fr, Mar 29
 Good Friday (university is closed)
Mon, Apr 1 Easter Monday (university is closed)
Fr, Apr 5
 Last day of classes
Mon, Apr 15, 12:00 PM
 Final Exam