MATH 360FALL 2010

Mathematics 360: Numerical Analysis

Instructor:
Office:
Contact:

Dr. Chris Thron

TAMUCT North Campus 16B
512.293.0715 (cell);
thron@tarleton.edu (email)
chris.thron (skype)
chris.thron@gmail.com (google chat)

Office Hours:
Mon. 5 6
Tues 9:00 1:30
Wed. 5 6
Thurs 9:00-11:30
Sat (virtual) 8:30 9:30 pm (contact via phone, Google chat or Skype)
You are welcome to schedule appointments outside of office hours at your convenience.
1.0
Course Overview:
An introduction to numerical analysis. Topics will be selected from error analysis, solving
algebraic equations, interpolation, numerical differentiation and integration, methods for solving
systems of equations, approximation theory, and initial value problems of ordinary differential
equations. Prerequisite: MATH 209 (Calculus 2) and 3 hours CS.
Extended description: MATH 360 provides students with a working knowledge of how to obtain
approximate solutions to problems arising in the areas of science, engineering and
mathematics. Students will be introduced to approximation techniques applied to topics selected
from the following: differentiation and integration, solving algebraic equations, interpolation,
functional approximation, solving systems of equations, and solving initial value problems of
ordinary differential equations. Students will compare the accuracy of different techniques for a
given problem and analyze the error in the approximations.
Prerequisite: MATH 209 and 3 hours of computer science. Students will be asked to
demonstrate competence in prerequisite material that is essential for success in this
course.
2.0
Competency Goal Statements:
Students will:
Discuss sources of error in approximation techniques.
Demonstrate an understanding of the derivation of and motivation for approximation
techniques.
Choose an appropriate technique for a given problem and apply the technique successfully.
Interpret the results of the approximation technique and discuss the accuracy of the results.
3.0

Required Materials
Numerical Analysis, Timothy Sauer. ISBN: 0321268989. A student of this institution is
not under any obligation to purchase a textbook from a university-affiliated bookstore.
Course web site: http://wps.aw.com/aw_sauer_numerical_1/ (download octave projects)
Octave (can be downloaded from http://octave.sourceforge.net/) Octave is a free
alternative to Matlab, which is the primary numerical analysis software used in industry).

MATH 360FALL 2010

4.0

Octave on the web: http://www.online-utility.org/math/math_calculator.jsp

Course Requirements
Reading questions (16%). You are expected to read the textbook outside of class and
answer questions posed by the instructor. Your answers must be posted on Blackboard
8 hours before the next class period.
You should expect a reading assignment before every class. However, the weekday
reading assignment will be much lighter than the weekend assignment. Expect to spend
2-3 hours per week outside of class in reading the textbook.(28 assignments total the
lowest 4 will not be counted)
Homework problems (16%). These will be due once a week, the same time every week
(to be determined by the instructor). Expect to spend 3-4 hours per week outside of
class in doing homework (14 assignments total the lowest 2 will not be counted)
Exams (68%). There are 3 midterm exams and a final. Exams will be in class, and will
closely follow the homework. Students will be allowed to use a cheat sheet, as per
instructor guidelines.
Note: The final has the same weight as two midterms. Thus there are essentially five
midterm grades. Your score will be based on the best four of these five grades.
Please note: It is mathematically impossible to pass the course without doing at
least some of the reading and homework. I will not substitute an exam grade for
the reading or homework grades.

5.0

Grading Criteria Rubric and Conversion

Reading Questions
(240 points) 16%
Homework
(240 points) 16%
Each exam (midterm or final)
(255 points) 17%
Each exam (midterm or final)
(255 points) 17%
Each exam (midterm or final)
(255 points) 17%
Each exam (midterm or final)
(255 points) 17%
TOTAL
(1500 points) 100%

90-100%=A
80- 89%= B
70- 79%= C
60- 69%= D
Below 60 % F

Scoring for each of these categories is as follows:

Each biweekly Reading assignment will be assigned up to 10 points. Grading is based on

completion plus detailed grading of a random sampling of the questions. The lowest 4
reading assignment grades will not be counted.

Each weekly Homework assignment will be assigned up to 20 points. Grading is based on

completion plus detailed grading of a random sampling of the questions The lowest two
homework grades will not be counted..

Exams will be a combination of multiple-choice, diagram, and short-answer questions at the

instructors discretion. The instructor reserves the right to determine the relative proportion
of these questions, to provide best coverage of the material.

In addition to the point values given above, up to 20 points extra credit (1%) may be given at
instructors discretion for additional class or take-home activities.

MATH 360FALL 2010

6.0

Course Calendar FALL 2009

Class dates Chapter and Selected Topics

1/19-21

Chapter 0 Fundamentals - evaluating a polynomial (0.1); binary numbers (0.2); floating

point representation, IEEE standard, machine epsilon (0.3)

1/25-28

Significant digits; catastrophic cancellation (0.4); Review of calculus (0.5) Chapter 1

Solving Equations - Bisection method, accuracy (1.1)

2/1-4

Fixed-point Iteration, cobweb diagrams, convergence (1.2); Limits of accuracy (1.3)

2/8-11

Newton's method, quadratic convergence rate (1.4); Secant Method; False Position
(1.5)

2/15-18

Review and Exam 1

2/22-25

Chapter 2 Solving Equations - Forward Gaussian Elimination and Backward

Substitution, (2.1); LU Decomposition (2.2);

3/1-4

Sources of error, residuals, small pivots, norms, condition numbers (2.3); LU with virtual
row partial pivoting and virtual row scaling, (2.4)

3/8-11

Chapter 3 Interpolation- Lagrange interpolation (3.1.1), Newton's divided differences

(3.1.2); Chebyshev interpolation (3.3)

3/15-17

S P R I N G

B R E A K

3/22-25

Review and Exam 2

3/29-4/1

Chapter 5, Numerical Calculus - approximation of derivatives, forward, backward and

central finite differences (5.1); Numerical integration, Newton-Cotes Rules (5.2)

4/5-4/8

Romberg integration (5.3); adaptive integration (5.4) Gaussian quadrature (5.5)

4/12-15

Chapter 6 ODE's - Review ODEs, Euler's method (6.1.1); First-order linear equations
(6.1.2)

4/19-22

Trapezoid and Taylor methods (6.2); Systems of ODEs (6.3)

4/26-29

Review and Exam 3

5/3-6

7.0

TBD

Drop Policy
Note:
If you discover that you need to drop this class, you must go to the Records Office and ask for
the necessary paperwork. Professors cannot drop students; this is always the responsibility of
the student. The Records Office will give a deadline by which the form must be returned,
completed and signed. Once you return the signed form to the records office and wait 24
hours, you must go into Duck Trax and confirm that you are no longer enrolled. If you are still
enrolled, FOLLOW-UP with the records office immediately. You are to attend class until the
procedure is complete to avoid penalty for absence. Should you miss the deadline or fail to

MATH 360FALL 2010

follow the procedure, you will receive an F in the course.

The last date to drop with no record on the transcript is Feb 3.
8.0 Academic Honesty (Tarleton State University Catalog, p. 37)
Texas A&M University-Central Texas expects all students to maintain high standards of personal
and scholarly conduct. Students guilty of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination or other
academic work, plagiarism, collusion, and the abuse of resource materials. The faculty member
is responsible for initiating action for each case of academic dishonesty.
9.0 . Disability Services
It is the policy of Texas A&M University-Central Texas to comply with the Americans with
Disabilities Act and other applicable laws. If you are a student with a disability seeking
accommodations for this course, please contact Sarina Swindell, Assistant to the President for
Diversity and External Education Initiatives, at 254.519.5711 or swindell@tarleton.edu. Student
Disability Services is located in TAMUCT Main Building, room 104C.
10. Library Services
INFORMATION LITERACY focuses on research skills which prepare individuals to live and work
in an information-centered society. Librarians will work with students in the development of
critical reasoning, ethical use of information, and the appropriate use of secondary research
techniques. Help may include, yet is not limited to: exploration of information resources such as
library collections and services, identification of subject databases and scholarly journals, and
execution of effective search strategies. Library resources are outlined and accessed at
http://www.tarleton.edu/centraltexas/departments/library/
11. Grading Policies
Regular attendance is extremely important to your success in this course. If you are absent, it
is your responsibility to find out what material was covered.
In general, makeup work is not accepted. I compensate for this by dropping the three lowest
reading grades and the two lowest homework assignments.
Exceptions to this policy may be made at the instructor's discretion in case of:
Prolonged illness

Death in the immediate family

Legal proceedings

Appendix: Course Philosophy

.

Instructor Goals
This course is an elementary survey of different numerical methods used to solve practical
problems in science and engineering. My goal is to give students a flavor of how math and
computing work hand and hand to solve these problems, and thus enable the truly
amazing feats of engineering that we see in everyday life.

B.

Course Methodology
In most courses, there are these common components:
A)

Reading the textbook

B)

Lecture /classwork

C)

Homework Problems

D)

Projects and Lab exercises

E)

Quizzes or Tests

A. As higher-level mathematics students, it is important that you learn to read mathematics

for yourself. For each class I will assign reading comprehension questions.
B. Lectures will be overviews of what you have read for yourself in the textbook. To
understand the lectures, you will need to read the textbook before class. I will also work a
fair number of example problems.
C. In this course, Homework is central. When you get right down to it, doing math means
being able to do the problems. If you can't do the problems, then you can't do math.
Homework will be graded partly for completion grade, partly for content. Homework will be
due every week on the first class day.
E. Tests will be roughly every 5 weeks. Each test will cover about 4 chapters. The final will
count twice as much as a midterm. Of the five grades (3 midterm grades and 2 half-final
grades), the highest 4 will be counted.
C. Instructor Responsibilities:
Post necessary study materials on Blackboard

Respond effectively to all email requests within 36 hours (Please use

thron@tarleton.edu)

Solicit feedback and respond effectively to student concerns about class organization,
presentation, and content.

Return all papers no more than 1 week after they are handed in
Make all grades available to students via Blackboard after each midterm test.
D. Student Responsibilities:
Complete each assignment by the specified due date.

 Obtain assignments and other information for classes from which they are absent.
Check Blackboard at least once between each class for possible updates.
If necessary materials are missing from Blackboard, request the instructor to put
them up.

Make use of all available study-aid options to resolve any questions that they might
have regarding course material. These include:

Coming to office hours

Contacting the instructor outside of office hours via phone, chat, or email

Tutoring on campus

Discussion with other students

Give as much of an effort as it takes to pass this course. You should expect to spend
two hours outside of class for every in-class hour. If your background is weak, you
may have to spend more time than this.

Save all graded work. If there is a dispute about grades, no recorded grade will be
changed unless the paper in question is produced.