Syllabus—Math 127—Precalculus II

Class Information

Call Number: 47129
Section Number: WC802
Classroom: West Charleston I Building, Room 308
Class Meeting Times: Tuesday 4:30PM—5:50PM and Thursday 4:30PM—5:50PM (exception: CSN Holidays and Breaks)

Catalog Description

MATH 127 Precalculus II 3 (3,0,0,0)
Topics include an in-depth investigation of trigonometric functions and their graphs, analytic trigonometry, solutions of triangles, vectors, and analytic geometry. Prerequisite: MATH 126 with a grade of C or better; or a satisfactory ACT/SAT/Placement Test score. Note: This course is essential for students planning to take calculus.

Instructor

Name: Davis Finley
Office: West Charleston H Building, Room 101P
Telephone: (702) 651-5713
Email: davis.finley@csn.edu
Web: http://www.nevada.edu/~finley

Office Hours

West Charleston H Building, Room 101P

Required Items

Textbook

Precalculus: Concepts Through Functions, A Right Triangle Approach to Trigonometry by Michael Sullivan and Michael Sullivan, III

Calculator

a non-graphing scientific calculator to use taking exams

Graph Paper

You must use graph paper to do graphing homework problems.

Course Objectives

Grading

Exam #1, Exam #2, Exam #3, and the Final Exam

There will be four exams in this class: Exam #1, Exam #2, Exam #3, and the Final Exam. Each will have a maximum possible score of 100 points.

If you miss Exam #1, Exam #2, or Exam #3, you may take a make-up for it, subject to the following:

There is no make-up Final Exam.

There will be restrictions on the use of electronic devices during exams. Be prepared to take exams without the use of a graphing calculator, a telephone, a music player, a computer, or any other electronic device whose use I decide to ban.

Extra Credit

There is no extra credit.

Grade Computation

At the end of the semester, your course score will be calculated by averaging your four exam scores. The maximum possible course score is 100.

If your course score is

Important Dates

For the Fall, 2008, semester, the last day to

Disability Resource Center

If you have a documented disability that may require assistance, you will need to contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC) for coordination of your academic accommodations. The DRC is located in Student Services on each campus. The phone numbers for each DRC office are: West Charleston 651-5644, Cheyenne 651-4045, and Henderson 651-3795. For students that would like to perform community service or earn extra money, stop by the DRC to fill out a job interest card. This office hires students as note takers, proctors, scribes, and lab assistants as needed.

Homework Assignments

Homework is assigned in class. Each homework assignment must be submitted at the beginning of class on its due date. Late homework will not be accepted.

Academic Integrity

Scholastic dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent. You are expected to have read and understood the current issue of the student handbook (published by Student Services) regarding student responsibilities and rights, and the intellectual property policy, for information about procedures and about what constitutes acceptable on-campus behavior.

Attendance Policy

Class attendance is required. You are responsible for everything that you miss if you are absent, regardless of the reason for your absence.

Disclaimer

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late homework, make-up exam, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.

Tentative Course Schedule (subject to change)

Date Section Number Section Title
August 26 5.1 Angles and Their Measure
5.2 Right Triangle Trigonometry
August 28 5.3 Computing the Values of Trigonometric Functions of Acute Angles
September 2 5.4 Trigonometric Functions of General Angles
September 4 5.5 Unit Circle Approach; Properties of the Trigonometric Functions
September 9 5.6 Graphs of the Sine and Cosine Functions
September 11 5.7 Graphs of the Tangent, Cotangent, Cosecant, and Secant Functions
September 16 5.8 Phase Shift; Sinusoidal Curve Fitting
September 18 6.1 The Inverse Sine, Cosine, and Tangent Functions
September 23 Exam #1
September 25 6.2 The Inverse Trigonometric Functions (Continued)
September 30 6.3 Trigonometric Identities
October 2 6.4 Sum and Difference Formulas
October 7 6.5 Double-angle and Half-angle Formulas
October 9 6.6 Product-to-Sum and Sum-to-Product Formulas
October 14 6.7 Trigonometric Equations (I)
October 16 6.8 Trigonometric Equations (II)
October 21 7.1 Applications Involving Right Triangles
October 23 Exam #2
October 28 7.2 The Law of Sines
October 30 7.3 The Law of Cosines
November 4 8.1 Polar Coordinates
November 6 8.3 The Complex Plane; De Moivre's Theorem
November 11 Veterans Day—no class
November 13 8.4 Vectors
November 18 8.5 The Dot Product
November 20 9.1 Conics
9.2 The Parabola
November 25 Exam #3
November 27 Thanksgiving Day—no class
December 2 9.3 The Ellipse
9.4 The Hyperbola
December 4 9.5 Rotation of Axes; General Form of a Conic
December 9 9.7 Plane Curves and Parametric Equations
December 11 Final Exam