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This course is designed to prepare you for learning calculus. This course will help you develop the skills and stamina necessary to solve lengthy, multi-step problems, involving a variety of pre-calculus mathematical concepts. We will also work on developing algebraic sophistication, and confidence. There will be a lot of practice with many mathematical methods.
We’ll cover a large amount of material. You have likely seen much of the content before, but many topics will be new. The course is meant to train you to deal with long and difficult problems, so even when the concepts are familiar, the problems may still be challenging.
Instructor: Gabriel Dorfsman-Hopkins
Email: gdh2[_at_]math.washington.edu
Office: PDL C-008-G
Class Hours:MWTh 6:30-7:50
Classroom: SMI 305
Office Hours:Tuesday 6:30-7:30 PM, Thursday 10:30-11:30 AM in PDL C-008-G
Textbook: Precalculus. Printed copies available at Professional Copy & Print, and EZ Copy N Print, on the ave.
Midterm 1 Date:Thursday, April 21
Midterm 2 Date:Thursday, May 12
Final Dates: Wednesday, June 8, 6:30-8:20, in SMI 305 (our classroom)
Syllabus: Can be found here
Homework: Twice weekly, due at 11:59 PM on Tuesdays and Fridays. Find it on WebAssign
Quiz 5 and quiz 6 solutions are both here. The medians were 11/20 and 20/20 respectively. <\p>
Quiz 4 solutions are here. The median was 18/20 with a standard deviation of 4.02.
Quiz 3 solutions are here. The median was 15/20 with a standard deviation of 4.76.
Miterm 1 solutions are here. The median was 45/75, with a standard deviation of about 17 points. Therefore the middle 50 percent fell between 28-62, a large spread.
Quiz 2 solutions are here. The median was 9/20..., with a standard deviation of 5.56.
Quiz 1 Solutions are Up! The median was a 17/20! The standard deviation is 3.56.
Office Hours are set for 6:30-7:30 PM on Tuesdays and 10:30-11:30 AM on Thursdays. Last chance to send me an email about adjusting office hours is this week (April 4-8).
Homework: 15%
Quizzes: 10%
Midterm Exams (2): 20% and 25% for the lower and higher scores respectively
Final Exam: 30%
Grades are curved, so that your course grade will reflect your performance relative to the rest of the class rather than a fixed percentage scheme. Historically, the median grade in Math 120 is in the range of 2.5-3.0. If you get at least 95% overall, you will receive a 4.0. If you get at least 70% overall, you will receive at least a 2.0.
A grade of 2.5 or better in Math 120 is required to move on to Math 124. You will probably need to average about 70% or better on exams and quizzes to acheive this.
Electronic Version of the Textbook
Past Math 120 Exams
Math 120 Course Materials
Webassign help
Syllabus
This may be adjusted as we move through the quarter. I will post an announcement and send out an email if a change to the schedule is made. Please read the chapter corresponding to a given lecture BEFORE the lecture, and come with any questions prepared.
Week | Day | Lecture | Homework |
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1 3/28-4/1 |
Monday | Introduction Begin Chapter 1 |
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Tuesday | None | ||
Wednesday | End Chapter 1 Begin Chapter 2 |
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Thursday | End Chapter 2 Chapter 3 |
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Friday | Chapter 1 | ||
2 4/4-4/8 |
Monday | Begin Chapter 4 | |
Tuesday | Chapter 2 | ||
Wednesday | End Chapter 4 Begin Chapter 5 Quiz 1 |
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Thursday | End Chapter 5 | ||
Friday | Chapter 3 | ||
3 4/11-4/15 |
Monday | Chapter 6 | |
Tuesday | Chapter 4 Chapter 5 |
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Wednesday | Begin Chapter 7 Quiz 2 |
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Thursday | End Chapter 7 | ||
Friday | Chapter 6 | ||
4 4/18-4/22 |
Monday | Chapter 8 Begin Chapter 9 |
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Tuesday | Chapter 7 Part I Chapter 7 Part II |
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Wednesday | End Chapter 9 Midterm Review |
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Thursday | Midterm 1 | ||
Friday | None | ||
5 4/25-4/29 |
Monday | Begin Chapter 10 | |
Tuesday | Chapter 8 | ||
Wednesday | End Chapter 10 Begin Chapter 11 Quiz 3 |
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Thursday | End Chapter 11 | ||
Friday | Chapter 9 | ||
6 5/2-5/6 |
Monday | Begin Chapter 12 | |
Tuesday | Chapter 10 Chapter 11 |
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Wednesday | End Chapter 12 Begin Chapter 13 Quiz 4 |
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Thursday | End Chapter 13 Begin Chapter 14 |
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Friday | Chapter 12 | ||
7 5/9-5/13 |
Monday | End Chapter 14 Begin Chapter 15 |
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Tuesday | Chapter 13 Chapter 14 |
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Wednesday | End Chapter 15 Midterm Review |
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Thursday | Midterm 2 | ||
Friday | None | ||
8 5/16-5/20 |
Monday | Begin Chapter 16 | |
Tuesday | Chapter 15 | ||
Wednesday | End Chapter 16 Begin Chapter 17 Quiz 5 |
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Thursday | End Chapter 17 | ||
Friday | Chapter 16 | ||
9 5/23-5/27 |
Monday | Begin Chapter 18 | |
Tuesday | Chapter 17 | ||
Wednesday | End Chapter 18 Begin Chapter 19 Quiz 6 |
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Thursday | End Chapter 19 Begin Chapter 20 |
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Friday | Chapter 18 | ||
10 5/30-6/3 |
Monday | Memorial Day | |
Tuesday | Chapter 19 Part I Chapter 19 Part II |
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Wednesday | End Chapter 20 | ||
Thursday | Review | ||
Friday | Chapter 20 |