TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY - FALL 2019
MATH 141:502 - Finite Mathematics
Instructor :  Pablo S. Ocal
Office hours :  TR 9:30-11:00 am, W 8:00-8:40 am (no appointment necessary)
Table of Contents
1. Description
2. Class Notes
3. Schedule
4. Homework
5. Quizzes
6. Exams
7. Resources
Description

The course on Finite Mathematics will treat, among others, linear equations and their applications, systems of linear equations, matrix algebra and their applications, linear programming, probability and its applications, and statistics. The prerequisites required for this course are high school Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry.

The course will have weekly classes on

  • Tuesdays and Thursdays in RICH, room 114, from 8:00 to 9:15 am.

The book we will be following is Finite Mathematics for the Managerial, Life, and Social Sciences (11th edition) by Soo T. Tan. We will be covering material in Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8. You may find all the information you will need on the Syllabus.

Class Notes

The following notes are a formal outline of the material we will be covering. These notes are not comprehensive nor are intended to be a substitute for the textbook or the lectures. If you find mistakes (typographical or other) in these notes, or have comments, please let me know.

The following are additional materials closely related to the class notes.

Tentative Schedule
Aug 27-29Sections 1.3, 1.4,
Linear Functions and Models, Intersection of Lines.
Sep 3-5Sections 2.1, 2.2, 2.3,
Formulating and Solving Systems of Linear Equations.
Sep 10-12Sections 2.4, 2.5, 3.2,
Matrix Arithmetic, Matrix Multiplication, Setting up Linear Programming Problems.
Sep 17-19Sections 1.3, 1.4, 2.1-2.5, 3.2,
Review and Exam 1.
Sep 24-26Sections 3.1, 3.3,
Graphing Systems of Linear Inequalities, Graphical Solution of Linear Programming Problems (Method of Corners, Leftovers).
Oct 1-3Sections 6.1, 6.2, 6.3,
Sets and Set Operations, Venn Diagrams, Multiplication Principle.
Oct 8-10Sections 6.4, 7.1,
Multiplication Principle, Permutations, Combinations, Experiments, Sample Spaces and Events.
Oct 15-17Sections 3.1, 3.3, 6.1-6.4, 7.1,
Review and Exam 2.
Oct 22-24Sections 7.2, 7.3, 7.4,
Definition and Rules of Probability, Use of Counting Techniques in Probability.
Oct 29-31Sections 7.5, 7.6,
Conditional Probability, Independent Events, Bayes’ Theorem.
Nov 5-7Sections 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4,
Random Variables, Expected Value, Variance, Standard Deviation, Binomial Distribution.
Nov 12-14Sections 7.2-7.6, 8.1-8.4,
Review and Exam 3.
Nov 19-21Sections 8.5, 8.6, 5.1
Normal Distribution and Its Applications, Simple and Compound Interest.
Nov 26Sections 5.2, 5.3,
Annuities, Amortization.
Dec 3Sections 1.3, 1.4, 2.1-2.5, 3.1-3.3, 5.1-5.3, 6.1-6.4, 7.1-7.6, 8.1-8.6,
Review.
Dec 9Sections 1.3, 1.4, 2.1-2.5, 3.1-3.3, 5.1-5.3, 6.1-6.4, 7.1-7.6, 8.1-8.6,
Final Exam.
Homework

There will be typically weekly online homework on WebAssign, which will be posted on Thursdays at 0:00 CDT and will be due the next Thursday at 23:59 CDT. You may find help pages for this online platform here.

Quizzes

Here the typically weekly quizzes, their deadlines (in italics), and their solutions will be posted. The assignments will be posted before Thursdays at 9:15 am and will be due the next Tuesday at 9:15 am.

Aug 29Consent Form.
Sep 3.
Sep 5Quiz 1, Solutions.
Sep 10.
Sep 12Quiz 2, Solutions.
Sep 17.
Sep 26Quiz 3, Solutions.
Oct 1.
Oct 3Quiz 4, Solutions.
Oct 8.
Oct 10Quiz 5, Solutions.
Oct 15.
Oct 24Quiz 6, Solutions.
Oct 29.
Oct 31Quiz 7, Solutions.
Nov 5.
Nov 7Quiz 8, Solutions.
Nov 12.
Nov 21Quiz 9, Solutions.
Nov 26.
Nov 26Quiz 10, Solutions.
Dec 3.
Exams

Here the exams and their solutions will be posted. You can find the official Texas A&M schedule for the final exams here. You are required to bring two scantrons 882-ES/882-E to the final exam.

Sep 19Exam 1 version A (with solutions), Exam 1 version B (with solutions),
RICH 114 from 8:00 to 9:15 am.
Oct 17Exam 2 version A (with solutions),
RICH 114 from 8:00 to 9:15 am.
Nov 14Exam 3 version blue (with solutions), Exam 3 version pink (with solutions),
RICH 114 from 8:00 to 9:15 am.
Dec 9Final Exam,
RICH 114 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.

The following are practice exams that you may use to prepare:

Resources

There are many resources available for a student at Texas A&M University, I encourage you to use them and make the most out of them. Here are some materials specific to this course:

  • A concise account of some of the most common and useful calculator commands can be found here. This was made by Kathryn Bollinger.
  • A more extense account of some of the most common and useful calculator commands can be found here. This was made by Joe Kahling.
  • A list of suggested homework exercises can be found here. The solutions to the list of suggested homework exercises can be found here. This was made by Kendra Kilmer.
  • A list of additional counting exercises and their solutions can be found here. This was made by Joe Kahling.
  • The schedule for the help sessions can be found here.
  • The schedule for the week in review can be found here. The problems and solutions of the week in review conducted by Maya Johnson can be found here. The problems and solutions of the week in review conducted by Patrick Orchard can be found here.

Additionally, some tips on How can I improve my grade? were written by David Manuel. Please keep in mind that you will only learn how to do the exercises if you try them on your own: without trying, looking up the solutions is absolutely useless.