Day 3, Mat129: Calculus I

Last time

Next time

Today:

Announcements
- Today we meet in the computer lab, room 306 (right down the hall from our regular classroom, toward the elevators, same side of the hall).
- No class Monday! Happy MLK day...
- Hide those small rectangles. No phones, even in here. But you can use your own laptop if you'd prefer, and if you've already installed Mathematica on it.
- You have an assignment due on IMath today at midnight. It's optional, but will count for an extra GOHF.
- In more IMath news, there is an assignment for section 1.5 in IMath; due next Wednesday. I've moved the due date on your second "review" assignment back a day, to Thursday, so that the two upcoming assignments won't coincide.
- Calc lab hours have been established:
  - Monday-Thursday, 9-3
  - Friday, 9-noon
Last time we began section 1.5: The Limit of a Function.
- What questions do you have about limits?
Today we're going to be working with Mathematica.
- If you're not familiar with Mathematica, you may want to start with my Getting Started file.
  See how far you get. Experiment! (That is "Play!" You can't break it....) Try to modify things, and see what happens. Ask me questions as they arise. Check with your neighbor, if you are having trouble.
- If you get done with that one, why don't you try to create a graphical illustration of a limit, like the one we talked about last time: "This slide show illustrates the approach of the secant lines to the tangent line for a smooth curve."
  If you're feeling really adventurous, you might want to do an animation. Here's an example of an animation, which you could modify to illustrate the approach of a secand line to a tangent line. There are some tricky bits, but I'll be happy to talk you through them.
  If you want to "cheat", you can look at the example I just wrote: SecantsToTangents.nb
- You might also take a look at the files we examined last time:
  - Examples from section 1.5: Mathematica tells lies!
  - Further examples

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