MS 226 - Business Calculus

Professor: Erich Friedman

About the course:

We will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 in Flagler 201. This course will essentially cover material from chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the text, Calculus for the Management, Life, and Social Sciences by Kolman and Denlinger. Topics of the course include the concepts of limits, derivatives, and extrema, with an emphasis on the meaning and usage of the derivative. We will, of course, be using these ideas to solve business related problems. Unlike your previous math courses, you will find that calculus is not about memorizing formulas. It is about understanding the concepts of limiting behavior and rates of change. The development of this material some 300 years ago was perhaps the greatest mathematical achievement in history. I hope you enjoy discovering it with me.

About me:

My e-mail address is erich.friedman@stetson.edu. My web page can be found at http://www.stetson.edu/~efriedma/. My office is Elizabeth 214-2. My office hours this semester are:

This means that I am always in my office during these times, and you can drop by without an appointment. If you cannot make my regularly scheduled hours, let me know and we can set up another time to talk. Please come by if you need help, or if you just want to chat. You will soon see that my lecture style is informal. I will be calling you by your first name (or a nickname if you prefer), so please call me Erich.

About you:

You should have passed MS 101 or the math placement test. You should be comfortable with fractional exponents, factoring, solving equations, graphing, exponential and logarithmic functions, and other methods of that course. If you need to review this material, do so now, as there will be no time for it later. Attendance in this class is not mandatory, but do not expect me to help you if you do not help yourself. Please be respectful of both me and your classmates. This means coming to class on time and not socializing in class. Cheating will not be tolerated.

About the math department:

I am usually available to answer your questions, but the math department offers several additional ways to get help. Much of the day, free math tutors can be found in the math office, Elizabeth 211. Also, Nancy, the math secretary has a list of paid tutors available at other times. There is also the Math Clinic which runs Monday through Thursday from 6 to 9 pm in Elizabeth 209. Please seek help as soon as you fall behind.

About your grade:

Homework will not be collected, but I will answer questions in class as time permits. These problems are an indication of what the quiz and test problems will look like. I encourage you to work together on the homework problems. You should do as much or as little homework as you need, but the leading cause of failing this course is not doing enough homework.

Quizzes (5 of them) are announced on the syllabus. These quizzes will be 10-15 minutes long and will cover recent material. The quizzes are mostly for your benefit. If you are doing poorly on the quizzes, this should serve as a warning that you do not know the material. Do something about it before the test. You cannot make up missed quizzes. Each quiz is worth 10 points.

Tests (4 of them) are also announced on the syllabus. You are allowed and encouraged to use a calculator, except on test #3. Any calcuator that has a ex key and a ln x key will do fine. You will be expected to show your work and justify your answers. I usually make up a practice test the week before the exam, to give you an idea of what to expect. I strongly suggest you try these problems in a timed setting to prepare for the real thing. I do not give make-up tests. If you miss a test without telling me beforehand, you will receive a zero. Each test is worth 100 points.

The Final Exam is comprehensive and is worth 250 points. There are 700 points total in the course. The grading scale is 90%-80%-70%-60%.