Harris School of Public Policy
Math Camp 2008

Course Information

The class meets every weekday from September 2-19 from 9-12 A.M.

The TA's will also hold office hours each afternoon from 1:30-3:30 in Room 140C (except for Friday, Sept. 12, when it will be in 140B).

My office is Ryerson 354, and you can e-mail me at: boller@math.uchicago.edu

The TA's for Math Camp are:
Haeil Jung, e-mail: hij@uchicago.edu
Jenhao Chen, e-mail: jenhao@uchicago.edu
Amer Hasan, e-mail: ahasan@uchicago.edu

I will not be working directly from a textbook, and my recommendation is merely that you obtain a decent copy of almost any Calculus book and work practice problems from relevant sections. However, the one that will be used in the autumn class for those who do not pass the Placement Exam, the book will be "Applied Calculus," 9th Ed., by Laurence D. Hoffman and Gerald L. Bradley, McGraw-Hill 2007, ISBN 0-07-305192-6. This book has been used in past years, and it has examples that are probably more relevant to students of public policy than most others. In the schematic of this text, we will cover roughly the first four chapters and the first two appendices in approximately the following order: App. A1, App. A2, Ch. 1, Ch. 2, App. A3, Ch. 3, Ch. 4.

There are two exams that you must pass. (If you do not, then you must take an additional mathematics course in the Autumn Quarter.) The first is the Algebra Placement Exam, and the second is the Calculus Placement Exam.

The first edition of this year's algebra exam took place on Friday, September 5, and it has now been graded.
Here are the solutions and the graphs for #2(d), 3(b), 7(b), and 8(d).
Here are the scores on the exam, sorted by student ID number. The passing mark is 86 (out of 144).

The (second) Algebra Placement Test took place on Monday, September 22. The solutions will be posted in the near future.
Here are the scores on the exam, sorted by student ID number. The passing mark is 73 (out of 131).

The Calculus Placement Test also took place on Monday, September 22. The solutions will be posted in the near future.
Here are the scores on the exam, sorted by student ID number. The passing mark is 77 (out of 140).

My understanding is that if you did not pass *both* exams, then you must take the autumn course, but please see Ellen Cohen about this to be sure.

For those interested in prior years' exams, here is a sample Placement Exam (with the Calculus Exam as well) from 2006. For those interested in even more practice, here is a sample Algebra Placement Exam and a sample Calculus Placement Exam culled from other previous exams.

For even more practice, here is a copy of the first algebra exam 2007 with solutions and the graphs for #1(f), 2(d), 6(a+b), and 8(d).
Here is a copy of the second algebra exam 2007 with solutions and the graphs for #2(d), 4(b), 6(a), and 8(d).
Here is a copy of the first Calculus exam 2007 with solutions.
Here is a copy of the second Calculus exam 2007 with solutions and the graphs for #2(b) and 7.

Algebra and Pre-Calculus

Notes: Axioms for the Real Numbers, Number Systems
Reading: Appendices A1 and A2 from the text
Problem: Use the Axioms to prove the algebraic formula for the factorization for the difference of two cubes:
x^3-y^3=(x-y)(x^2+xy+y^2)
Notes: Definitions and Theorems 1 (Algebra, Absolute Value, Intervals).
Problems: Problems 2.
Notes: Definitions and Theorems 2 (Lines).
Reading: Chapter 1, Sections 1.1-1.3 (Functions, Graphs, Linear Functions).
Problems: Problems 3.
Notes: Definitions and Theorems 3 (Exponentials and Logarithms).
Reading: Chapter 4, Sections 4.1-4.2 (Exponential and Logarithmic Functions).
Problems: Problems 4.

Calculus

Reading: Sections 1.5 (Limits) and 2.1 (The Derivative).
Problem: Use the technique from class to find the derivative of f(x)=x^3.
Notes: Definitions and Theorems 4 (Limits and Continuity).
Reading: Sections 1.5 (Limits), 1.6 (One-Sided Limits and Continuity) and 2.1 (The Derivative).
Problems: Problems 6.
Notes: Definitions and Theorems 5 (Differentiation).
Reading: Sections 2.2 (Techniques of Differentiation) and 2.3 (Product and Quotient Rules).
Problems: Problems 7.
Notes: Definitions and Theorems 6 (Differentiation of Logs and Exps, Chain Rule).
Reading: Sections 2.4 (The Chain Rule) and 4.3 (Differentiation of Logarithmic and Exponential Functions).
Problems: Problems 8.
Reading: Sections 2.6 (Implicit Differentiation and Related Rates).
Problems: Problems 9.
Notes: Definitions and Theorems 10 (Mean Value Theorem, Analysis of Functions).
Reading: Sections 3.1 (Increasing/Decreasing, Relative Max/Min) and 3.2 (Concavity and Points of Inflection).
Problems: Problems 10.
Reading: Sections 3.3 (Curve Sketching) and 3.4 (Optimization)
Notes: Definitions and Theorems 12 (Limits at Infinity, Infinite Limits, and Asymptotes).