MATH 202 - DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

SYLLABUS SPRING 2015

Faculty: Nihat Gkhan G
Office / Phone: FENS G051; (483) 9615
Email: nggogus@sabanciuniv.edu
Office Hours: Monday 11:40-12:30, or by appointment.

Lectures. Monday 12.40-13.30

Wednesday 12.40-14.30

FASS G062
FASS G062

Course Description. Differential equations are used to model the behavior of systems in the natural
world, such as population growth and decay, spring-mass systems or electrical circuits, and predict
how these systems will behave in the future. This course will present the basics of solving
differential equations in face to face meetings in lectures, recitations and office hours.
We will cover the topics First-order ordinary differential equations and solution methods. Direction
fields, qualitative methods. First order, second-order linear and higher order ordinary differential
equations. Mathematical models. Laplace transform. Linear systems. Nonlinear systems.
Prerequisite. Math 101 and 102/Calculus I and II or instructor's permission.
Goals. The purpose of the course is to give knowledge of how to solve ordinary differential
equations. Upon completing this course, students should understand the general theory of ordinary
differential equations and the basic techniques for solving differential equations involving one
unknown function and one independent variable.
Text Book. We will follow the book (look at SuCourse for more info on textbook!)
Fundamentals of Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems 6th edition, R. K. Nagle, E.
B. Saff, A. D. Snider, Pearson Education International, 2012
Suggested reading. If I suggest you to make use of the online book which you can download from
http://www.jirka.org/diffyqs/
You can use this book as a recourse instead of buying Nagles book.
Several good books in the library are also available.
Recitations. The lectures in the recitation classes will be in discussion and group study format. In the
recitations only some selected problems will be discussed in the first hour. In the second hour there
will be workshops (read the next item). There will not be a review of the course material so make
sure to read the lecture notes before coming to the recitations. Following the lectures and
recitation hours is a prerequisite for the course. Attendance will be followed in recitations. In
the first week of the semester there will be recitation sessions.

NA Policy. Students missing 8 or more hour recitations with no valid excuse will not be allowed
to take the final and the retake exam, and will automatically receive the NA grade. A student
who did not take any of the 3 midterms also receives the NA grade and will not be allowed to
take the final and the retake exam.
You must try the problems at the end of each section in the book.

Workshop. In your recitation classes you will work individually or as groups of at most two
students to solve some problems. This is a classroom activity in recitations for which the book
and lecture notes will be open. So it is your responsibility to be present in these workshops. The
solutions during these recitation workshops will be collected every week. Randomly they will be
graded. The best five workshops out of all will be taken. The recitation workshops will be
another 25% of your overall grade. There is absolutely no make up for workshops.

Exams. There will be totally four exams during the semester: 3 midterms and 1 final. The best two
of the first two midterms will be considered one midterm grade. The third midterm will be
counted as your second midterm grade. There is absolutely no make up for the midterms. So it
is your responsibility to be present. The dates of these midterms are below. The dates of the final
exam will be announced by Student Resources.
Makeup Policy. There will be no makeup of the midterms. Instead the least one grade out of the first
two midterms will not be counted in your total grade evaluation. Under this policy it is very
important that you try to obtain high grades for your first two midterms. YOK retake exam
will be given to those students who received an F grade. The makeup for the final exam for
those with valid excuse will be given in the same day as the retake exam.
Academic Honesty. Dishonesty includes cheating on a test, plagiarism, and helping another student
cheat or plagiarize. Academic dishonesty will result in failure of the course. For complete
information about the University's policy on Academic Honesty, please visit the web site:
http://mysu.sabanciuniv.edu/yonerge/Akademik_durustluk/T-Academic_durustluk.html

Attendance. Class attendance is mandatory. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to make up
the material.

Grading: There will be three midterm exams, workshops and one final. Best two midterm grades
will count. The best 5 workshop grades will count.
First Midterm
Second Midterm
Third Midterm

18 March 2014 Wednesday

22 April 2014 Wednesday
9 May 2014 Saturday

Final

To be announced by Student
Resources.
Best 5 WS grades.
Each
Total WS
WS is is 25%
5%

Workshops

Each
midterm
counts
25%

Total
of two
midterms
50%
30%

The grading scale is 96-105 A, 92-95 A-, 88-91 B+, 84-87 B, 80-84 B-, 76-79 C+,
70-75 C, 66-69 C-, 62-65 D+, 57-61 D, and below 57 F. Plus and minus
grades will be given at my discretion.

Time and Place

Lectures. Monday 12.40-13.30, Wednesday 12.40-14.30
FASS G062 (auditorium).
Office hour: Monday 11.40-12.30 or by appointment.
Recitations.
A1 Tuesday 14.40-16.30
Office hour:

FENS L048

Hatice Duman

A2 Tuesday 14.40-16.30
Office hour:

FENS L061

Saber Rostam Zadeh

A3 Tuesday 14.40-16.30
Office hour:

FENS G015

Hailu Bikila Yadeta

A4 Tuesday 14.40-16.30
Office hour:

FENS 2019

TBA

B1 Tuesday 17.40-19.30
Office hour:

FENS L048

Hatice Duman

B2 Tuesday 17.40-19.30
Office hour:

FENS L061

Hailu Bikila Yadeta

B3 Tuesday 17.40-19.30
Office hour:

FENS L058

Leila Haghighi Poudeh

B4 Tuesday 17.40-19.30
Office hour:

FENS 2019

Abdullah Kamadan

Course Schedule:
Dates

Sections (weekly)

Feb 02-04

1.1, 1.2

Feb 09-11

2.1, 2.2, 2.3

Feb 16-18

2.4, 2.5, 2.6

Mar 23-25

3.1,3.2, 3.4

Mar 02-04

4.1, 4.2

Mar 09-11

4.3, 4.4, 4.5

Mar 16-18

4.6, 4.7

Mar 23 25

7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5

Mar 30 Apr 1

7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.9

Apr 06-12

Spring Break

Apr 13-15

9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4

Apr 20-22

9.5, 9.6

Apr 27-29

9.7

May 04-06

9.8

May 11-13

Review

M=Midterm

Add-drop period: February 11-13.

Withdrawal: March 2.

Midterm

Workshop

Workshops
start here.

M1

M2

M3

Content of the exams. Roughly the following topics will be the content of the exams.
Midterm I.
1.1, 1.2
2.1, 2.2, 2.3
2.4, 2.5, 2.6
3.1, 3.2, 3.4
4.1, 4.2, 4.3

18 March 2015 Wednesday lecture 12.40-14.30

Solutions of initial value problems.
Separable equations, linear first order equations.
Exact equations, integrating factors, substitutions and transformations.
Modeling problems involving first order differential equations, mixing problems,
population models and Newtonian mechanics.
Mass-spring example, general solution of a homogeneous second order linear
equation, auxiliary equations with complex roots.

Midterm II. 22 April 2015 Wednesday 19.40-22.30

4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 Undetermined coefficients, variation of parameters, variable-coefficient equations.
7.1, 7.2, 7.3 Laplace transform: Definition and properties.
7.4, 7.5, 7.6 Inverse Laplace transform, solving IVPs.
7.7, 7.8, 7.9 Convolution, Dirac Delta function.

Midterm III. 9 May 2015 Saturday 10.40-13.00

9.1, 9.2, 9.3 Review of linear algebra.
9.4, 9.5
Linear systems in normal form, homogeneous linear systems with constant
coefficients.
9.6, 9.7, 9.8 Complex eigenvalues, nonhomogeneous linear systems, matrix exponential function.

Final.
Date to be announced by Student Resources.
Covers all the topics included in the 3 midterms.

If you need extra help:

Always keep in mind that it is very natural and all right if you do not understand a
concept or some thing in the lecture. I and teaching assistants are available to help.
Ask questions. Benefit office hours.
Suggestions

Remember that you do not have to be a math genius to be successful in this course (although
it wouldnt hurt!). Regular study habits are sufficient to get a decent grade.
Attend the classes and recitation hours regularly. Make sure you attend your own
(registered) recitation section.
Studying out of class for this course should become a routine. Key to success in mathematics
is practice. Solve many problems related to each concept.
You are responsible from every announcement made in class or in SUCourse. Not
attending the class or not following SUCourse regularly is not an excuse, in case you miss
something.
I am available to help. Feel free to ask me and your TA a question in and out of class. If you
cannot make it to our office hours, you should e-mail me (or your TA) ahead of time and
make an appointment.

My weekly schedule
Mon
8.40-9.30
9.40-10.30
10.40-11.30
11.40-12.30
12.40-13.30
13.40-14.30
14.40-15.30
15.40-16.30
16.40-17.30

Office hour
Math 202
Math 305
Math 305

Tue

Wed

Thu

Math 202
Math 202

Fri

Karaky
Analysis
Seminars
Math 305
Math 305