discrete math - exam info
exam 1 (wed 10/5, in class)
this exam will be on the topics we covered from the beginning of the
semester through the previous week (fri 9/30). this consists of chapters
1 and 2 of hammack, and most of part I and II of houston. here are some
things which i consider important, but this is not necessarily an exclusive list (not necessarily a sufficient list?)
of topics for the exam:
- explain your solutions in coherent english/math.
- understand basic set constructions (union, intersection, difference,
power set, complement) as well as notation
- be able to determine if an object is an element or a subset of another
set (perhaps of a set constructed by methods mentioned above)
- be able to determine the cardinality of a finite set
(perhaps of a set constructed by methods mentioned above)
- be able to write a simple proof of a statement about sets
- determine if something is a set or a statement
- understand basic statement constructions (and, or, negation, conditionals,
inverse, converse, contrapositive) as well as notation
- understand the use of quantifiers
- determine truth tables for statements
- determine if two statements are logically equivalent, or if one implies
the other
to help you prepare, here's a pdf of worksheets 1-4
that we did in class, roughly covering hammack 1.1-1.5.
exam 2 (mon 11/21, in class)
this exam will cover chapters 3-10 of hammack.
here is a list of the main topics
(not necessarily an exclusive list):
- basic counting, binomial theorem, and the inclusion-exclusion principle
- write correct and coherent proofs
- do proofs by contradiction, or contrapositive
- prove conditional/bi-conditional statements
- do proofs by (strong or weak) induction
- prove results about divisibility and prime numbers
- prove results about sets (cardinalities, subsets, equalities)
- prove/disprove by construction/counterexample
to help prepare, you can go through the review
questions, and afterwards read through my
comments on how to solve them.
final exam (th dec 15, 8-10am)
the final exam will be cumulative. probably at least half to two-thirds of
the material on the final exam will be material from the first two exams,
so the first thing you should do to prepare is review that material.
my recommendations for how to prepare are to review the following:
i will be available wed 11-11:50am and 3-4pm for last-minute questions
course home