MATH6038: Spring 2018, Week 5*

*These starred week numbers are one behind CIT’s week numbers. This is because of the snow.

Linear Algebra: 20% Test

Will now take place Wednesday 21 March, in Week 7* [21 March].

The test will take place from 19:00-20:30 but most students should be able to complete the test in about an hour. It has about 35 Marks worth of questions: five in all (with one very short, and three shortened versions of longer questions).

Anything done in the first five weeks is examinable (see “Independent Learning” below) and it is recommended that you understand what is going on with the summaries of p. 57-59.

The nine questions from p. 60 on are a good revision but not every possible question is listed there. In next week’s Maple you will get a chance to revise these questions.

Week 5* [7 March]

We saw how linear systems can be written as matrix equations, and (sometimes) solved using matrix inverses. Then we spoke about determinants, and their use in figuring out if homogeneous linear systems have non-zero solutions. Finally we looked at Cramer’s Rule.

Week 6* [14 March]

We will start the class with one more example of Cramer’s Rule, and then start pushing into statistics.

In Maple, we will do Lab 3, which is really revision for the Linear Algebra Test.

Week 7* [21 March]

The test is going to begin at 19:00 sharp and run until 20:30. Class will resume at 20:35 sharp. This seems a very short break but the test is designed so that it shouldn’t take much longer than an hour to complete, so almost everyone should have a solid enough break.

At 20:35 we will continue working on statistics.

Week 8* [28 March/4 April]

This may or may not be a Maple night (it depend on how far we get in the previous week).

It appears that at most one student will miss the class, which isn’t too bad. So now we now go back to the poll to pick between the two nights.

Maple Catch Up

If you have missed a lab you have two options: either download Maple onto your own machine (instructions may be found here) or come into CIT at another time to use Maple.

Go through the missed lab on your own, doing all the exercises in Maple. Save the worksheet and email it to me.

Independent Learning

Questions you can do include:

• After Week 5: P.44, Q. 1-3, Q. 4-5 more abstract. P.47, Q. 1-3, Q. 4 more abstract.  P.56, Q. 1-3, Q. 4 more abstract. P.69, Q. 9 is an important question. A version might be

 Use only determinants to determine if the following homogeneous system of linear equations has non-zero solutions:

• After Week 4: P. 41, Q. 1-4
• After Week 3: P. 28, Q. 1-5, 6-9 have answers with Q. 7 a harder question. P. 34 exercises.
• After Week 2: P. 18 Q. 2
• After Week 1: P. 18 Q. 1, 3 – 6. Harder questions are 7 and 8. For those who do not yet have the manual, see here.

I am not suggesting you should do all of these. It is recommended by the module descriptor that you do two hours of independent and directed learning every week but of course this isn’t feasible for everyone.

Student Resources

Please see the Student Resources tab on the top of this page for information on the Academic Learning Centre, etc.