Math Methods Home

SUNY-Geneseo/Physics & Astronomy
Spring 2025
Mathematical Methods
(Phys 228)
MW 12:30 - 1:20, ISC 229

Office: ISC 228D

Syllabus	"Mileage" Reward System	Getting started with CAPA
Demos & Assignments, and	Grade Request Form	Welcome!
Current Grade Status	Personal Survey
Using Discord	Trouble Updating Mathematica?	Equation Sheet for Final Exam
Google Drop Box	Mathematica Tutorials

What am I doing here? At the end of this course, your skill with a variety of commonly used mathematical and numerical methods in physics in engineering (as listed below) will be substantially increased. You should already have some prior exposure to most of these techniques through you calculus and differential equations courses. We will focus on the practical rather than the theoretical aspects of each technique, but there will naturally be some theory involved. The topics include derivatives and partial derivatives, infinite series (including Fourier series and Taylor series), vector calculus, complex numbers, linear algebra, tensors, differential equations, and probability. There will also be some examination of commonly used numerical techniques.

What do I have to read? The textbook is: Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences, by Mary Boas (3^rd edition, Wiley). This book is very readable.

How will I be graded? Your grade will be determined by:

Weekly Assignments & Quizzes:
Participation in Office Hours
Exams (3 total)

35%
5%
60%
100%

Final Exam: The final exam will be held on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, from noon to 2:30 pm, and will be comprehensive.

Assignments: Homework will be done primarily on CAPA this semester. However, some assignments will also require submission of Mathematica documents, or other supporting written work. This work will be graded on clarity (a combination of neatness and completeness) and presentation quality. Be warned: an answer is not the same as a solution. Assignments that are too hard to understand are also too hard to grade, and will receive zeroes.

Here are some tips for successful Mathematica submissions:

•Use the correct filename, EXACTLY. Do not change or misplace a single character. Be aware

that you may have already instructed your computer to lie to you (!) about your file names

(most specifically, to hide the extensions from you). You will find that this practice is always

and forever unacceptable for scientists. It is expected that you will correct this on your

computer immediately upon reading this sentence for the first time.

•In a text cell, put your name and the assignment number into the top of the worksheet. Also, label

each individual problem with the corresponding problem number in a text cell.

•Do the assignment correctly. Make sure your final solution is not just a “naked” number floating
without sufficient context.

•Choose reasonable and unique variable names.

• Run your entire notebook as a whole before saving and submitting! ! ! !

• Appearance counts: your work should be reasonably spaced and (* documented *).

•Supplement your equations with text and/or diagrams when necessary. A third party who is not in
the class should be able to determine both the question and the answer from your solution,
without needing to even see the assignment itself.

•Plots should have a sufficient and reasonable range for the independent variable. Contour
and surface plots should have correct aspect ratios.

What is the course schedule? Here is the anticipated schedule:


What if I have trouble with the homework? Visit me during online office hours (see times listed above) and I’ll try to point you in the right direction. In fact, you are required to use office hours to ask a relevant question at least once in each of two different calendar months. Remember that all learning and all skill comes from doing, not seeing. Every part of every problem that you let somebody else do for you is something that you are deciding that you just don’t want to learn. You will not have their help on exams!

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, students will:

Gain proficiency in taking derivatives and partial derivatives
Gain proficiency in the use of geometric series, power series, Fourier series, and Taylor series
Gain proficiency in the use of vectors and vector operators
Gain proficiency in the use of complex numbers
Gain proficiency in the use of linear algebra and tensors
Gain proficiency in the use of differential equations
Gain proficiency in basic probability and statistical analysis
Gain proficiency in some basic types of numerical analysis using tools in Mathematica and Excel
Learn multiple practical uses for each of the above topics.

Also, the college provides information at the following URL relating to a variety of topics:

https://wiki.geneseo.edu/display/PROVOST/Syllabus+Resources+Related+to+Student+Success