Calculus Lab
Spring 2013


A laboratory to investigate ways in which the computer can help in understanding the calculus and in dealing with problems whose solutions involve calculus. No programming required; a variety of existing programs will be used. Prerequisite or corequisite for Mathematics 235: Mathematics 225 (Calc 3);
There is no textbook required for this course.
Computer Lab Hours, Spring 2013 (with hours when a lab assistant is available)

Week 1 Materials (Jan 14-18)

  1. Course Syllabus and Schedule
  2. Setting up the Computers and Getting Started
  3. Links about LaTeX (the word processing system)
    1. A Template LaTeX file (This is the file to download to your computer).
    2. Introduction to LaTeX (We'll be working through this document{
    3. Links for the homework (For the assignment, see the Introduction to LaTeX)
      • The video tutorials about LaTeX. Be sure to watch at least the first 6 videos before class next week!
      • Overall homework goal: Construct the LaTeX file that will produce the linked PDF file. You will turn in the tex file and the PDF file by uploading them to your CLEo account. More on this later.

Week 2 Material (Jan 21-25)

  1. Introduction to Maple. We'll work through this document for about 20-25 minutes today.
  2. Maple Homework, due Feb 4
  3. Error in Exercise 7. Here is the correction
  4. Continue with working through LaTeX (About 25 minutes today).

Week 3 Material (Jan 28-Feb 1)

  1. The Latex assignment is due this week (depends on your section: Section X: Thursday, Section Y: Friday, Section Z: Saturday).
  2. Continue with Maple today. Be sure and work with your partner.
  3. The Maple assignment is due by Monday (Feb 4) at midnight (this is a change). Put it in your CLEo dropbox folder "Lab 0" that you created for the Latex assignment.
  4. (Optional) Fun with Latex. Incorporating coffee stains and the Simpsons into your LaTeX document!

Week 4 Material (Feb 4-8)

  1. We'll be getting into new groups for the lab- Be sure and arrive on time!
  2. Lab 1 (Modified Tuesday, Feb 5). Will be due on Feb 15.

Week 5 Material (Feb 11-15)

  1. New groups this week
  2. Pre Lab information about Maple
  3. Lab 2: Clairaut's Theorem
  4. LaTeX template for Lab 2
  5. A nice web page showing how to use insert a bibliography
  6. Deadline: Friday, March 1st.

Week 6 Material (Feb 18-22)

This week, we'll be looking at how to insert figures into a document, how to label and reference, and how to use citations. You should download and read the following PDF file. The other files you can use to edit the tex file and figures if you'd like.
  1. The PDF file with info in it.
  2. The LaTeX version of the file
  3. The figure (JPG)
  4. The figure (EPS)
If you look at the Lab 2 sheet from last week, you'll want to include at least one figure and one reference (with the bibliography) in your lab. You might also include a label and a reference. The lab is due on March 1st, and you'll upload the PDF and tex files to a new folder labeled "Lab 2".

Week 7 Material (Feb 25-Mar 1)

As we discussed last week, you may use this week to finish up the Clairaut Lab, which is due at the end of the week. Next week, we'll have a short lab (to be posted by the end of the week). A reminder of the upload instructions: Please upload your finished PDF file and tex file to a new folder (that you create in CLEO) labeled "Lab 2".

Week 8 Material (Mar 4-Mar 8)

Spring Break

Week 9 (Mar 25-29) Material

Week 10 (Apr 1-5)

This week, continue with the lab. In particular, we want to see how to use Maple and Calculus to minimize arc length of a certain path.
Sample Maple file - Shows how to optimize a path.
You should also start the written report. Your report should include:
  1. You should have a title, authors, date, figures.
  2. Discussion of the equations for the surface of the torus.
  3. Discussion of the paths suggested by the ants- In particular, figures and arc lengths.
  4. Finally, come up with your own path that is shorter than the ones the ants provided. Be sure to conclude with a picture and your arc length.
  5. When you're finished, you only need to upload the PDF version of your report.

Week 11 (Apr 8-12)

Nothing new this week. Work on your report in LaTeX. Look at last week's entry to see more details.
Grading: Grading will be based on completeness (did you include all of the details requested), mathematics (is your work accurate), and narrative (did you use enough figures to explain your work). You should think of your audience as other students in the class- That is, you can assume your readers have had calculus, but you should remind them of any pertinent formulas.
When you're finished, upload your PDE file to a "Lab04" folder on CLEo. Due: April 19.

Week 12 (Apr 15-19)

New partners this week- We'll be getting into groups to learn ``Beamer'' and we'll begin putting together material for a talk. We'll be working on these projects for the remaining two weeks of class (the last week, we'll be giving the talks). More information will be provided.

Week 13:

Last week of regular class!
Today we'll continue working with our Beamer presentations for next week.
Grading and Scheduling for next week:

Week 14:

Presentations are scheduled. See the schedules in last week's links.

Notes about the Computers in the Mathematics Computer Lab

  1. Ubuntu. A nice way to install Ubuntu to reside with Windows is by using Wubi
  2. TeXMaker is the text editor we are using (it is free of charge, and can run on either Linux, Mac OSX or Windows).
  3. The word processing software we use in Mathematics is called ``LaTeX'', and it is free. We'll have some notes in class about options One way to download LaTeX is to use proTeXt. It is a large download (about 750 MB, which is a full CD). If you want to borrow a copy from me, I have a few available to loan.
  4. You'll also need a program to view DVI files- Use Ghostview and Ghostscript for that (I believe links to these may be included in proTeXt).
  5. The blue bound book on each desk is "The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX"
  6. The mathematics software we use is called Maple. There are student editions available for about the price of a good calculator (about $99.00).
  7. Installing LaTeX on a Mac? Here is one way to get it. TeXShop is used in place of TeX-Maker, but TeXMaker is available for Macs (link above)