Mathematics 320 Syllabus

The purpose of the 300-level courses is to enable students to expand their view of algebra and geometry to include non-linear motion and non-linear functions. The investigation encompasses circular motion and the ensuing trigonometric functions, ellipses and hyperbolas, exponential and logarithmic functions, dot products and matrices, and geometry on the surface of the Earth. In particular, logs are used to straighten non-linear data; and matrices, to describe geometric transformations and various patterns of growth. In preparation for 400-level mathematics, two other strands are introduced: first, combinatorics and recursion, leading to the binomial theorem; second, infinitesimal behavior, especially instantaneous rates of change and slopes of non-linear graphs.