MATH250 Differential Equations

Department of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics: Mathematics

  1. Course Number and Title

    MATH250 Differential Equations

  2. Number of Credits

    3 credits

  3. Minimum Number of Instructional Minutes Per Semester

    2250 mintues

  4. Prerequisites

    MATH141 (C or better)

    Corequisites

    None

  5. Other Pertinent Information

    A minimum of three (3) tests and a Departmental Final Examination will be included in the course.

  6. Catalog Course Description

    Topics for this course include first order and higher order ordinary differential equations; linear differential equations with constant coefficients; differential operators, non-homogenous differential equations and their solutions, special techniques for solving ordinary differential equations, and Laplace transforms.

  7. Required Course Content and Direction

    1. Learning Goals:

      1. To recognize various types of differential equations.
      2. To solve differential equations by special techniques.
      3. Applying differential equations to solve problems involving mechanical vibrations.
      4. To use Laplace Transform to solve differential equations.

    2. Planned Sequence of Topics and/or Learning Activities:

      1. Direction fields and the approximation method of Euler.
      2. First order differential equations including separable, exact, linear Homogenous equations and Bernoulli equations.
      3. Linear Differential Operators.
      4. Fundamental Solutions of Homogenous equations.
      5. Homogenous Linear equations with constant coefficients.
      6. Superposition and Nonhomogenous differential equations.
      7. Methods of Undetermined coefficients.
      8. Mechanical Vibrations and Simple Harmonic Motion.
      9. Damped Free Vibrations and Forced Vibrations.
      10. Definitions and Properties of Laplace Transform.
      11. Inverse Laplace Transform.
      12. Solving initial value problems using Laplace Transform.
      13. Laplace Transforms and special functions.

    3. Assessment Methods for Core Learning Goals:

    4. Reference, Resource, or Learning Materials to be used by Students:

      Departmental selected textbook. Details provided by the instructor of each course section. See Course Format.

  8. Teaching Methods Employed

    At least one hundred fifty minutes will be devoted each week to the presentation course material in a classroom setting.

Review/Approval Date - 9/98