The Wonderful World of Precalculus

M305G

Instructor Ryan Derby-Talbot
Office RLM 11.150
Office Hours MW 9-10 Th 11-12

Courses Fall '05
57505 MWF 11-12 RLM 5.118
57550 MWF 3-4 RLM 6.120

First Day Handout MWF 11-12

First Day Handout MWF 3-4

Algebra Review Worksheet

Homework assignments 1 - 31 and review problems for exams 1, 2, 3 and the final

Exam 1 Solutions

Exam 2 Solutions

Exam 3 Solutions

Final Solutions

Here are some websites used in class demonstrations:

Angles in the Cartesian plane (Click on "Applet: Polar coordinates")
Motion of a simple pendulum
Vertical motion on a Ferris wheel

Here is a website with many interesting precalculus-related applets, like we've seen in class on technology Fridays. Ron Blond, the owner of the website, is one of the developers of a computer-guided learning package called The Learning Equation (TLE). I've picked out some of the applications that are relevant to our class and listed them below.

Circles: How standard form works
Circles: Given an equation, try to draw it
Slopes of lines; also slopes of perpendicular lines
Transformations: shifts (a.k.a. translations)
Transformations: stretches and reflections
Quadratics: see how a, b and c affect the graph, roots and discriminant of ax²+bx+c

Here is a website where you can graph functions