Welcome

Welcome to the course web page for the Spring 2011 manifestation of MA2560: Calculus II at Plymouth State University.

What is this course all about?

This course picks up where Calculus I left off. After reviewing some of the basic definitions (especially integration), we will begin developing more "advanced" techniques for computing antiderivatives. Afterward we'll see some applications of integrals, particularly to geometric quantities like volume and length. The second half of the course breaks from the focus on integration to consider sequences and series. The ultimate goal of this portion of the course is to determine what it means to add an infinite number of terms; though this begins by considering an infinite sum of real numbers, the real strength of this theory comes when considering infinite sums of functions.

We will occasionally make use of software packages, like Sage, which is capable of doing symbolic mathematics.

For more details, see the syllabus.

Textbook

We will be using the free textbook titled Calculus by David Guichard, et al. The textbook is available here. One option is to obtain a PDF of chapters 1-11, which is available on this page. Alternatively, if you want to have a physical copy, you can buy a paperback ($\$$9.40) or a hardback ($\$$23.20) from Lulu.

I expect you to be reading the textbook. I will not be covering every detail of the textbook and the only way to achieve a sufficient understanding of the material is to be digesting the reading in a meaningful way. You should be seeking clarification about the material in the textbook whenever necessary by asking questions in class or posting questions to the course forum.

Getting Help

There are many resources available to get help. First, I recommend that you work on homework in groups as much as possible and to come see me whenever necessary. Also, you are strongly encouraged to ask questions in the course forum on our Moodle page, as I will post comments there for all to benefit from.

To effectively post to the course forum, you will need to learn the basics of LaTeX, the standard language for typesetting in the mathematics community. See the Quick LaTeX guide (coming soon) for help with $\LaTeX$. If you need additional help with $\LaTeX$, post a question in the course forum on our Moodle page.

You can also visit the Math Activity Center, which is located in Hyde 351. This student-run organization provides peer tutoring services for most 1000 and 2000 level math courses and some 3000 level courses. Tutors are typically math majors interested in teaching math and practicing their instructional skills. You can drop in anytime during open hours.

Lastly, you can always .