MT 171 - Elements of Calculus with Technical Applications

Credit Hours: 4

A calculus course intended for the technical student. Topics will include analytic geometry, curve sketching, geometric analysis of the derivative, applications of the derivative and applications of the integral.

Fulfills SUNY General Education – Mathematics.

Course Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

demonstrate an understanding of functions and function notation;
identify and graph equations representing: parabola, circle, rational, and piecewise functions;
compute limits, determine the slope of a tangent line and the derivative of a function using the delta process;
determine the first and higher order derivative(s) of a function using the power, chain, product, and quotient rules;
perform implicit differentiation;
solve mechanical and electrical applications of the derivative;
perform the lst and 2nd derivative tests, determine maximum and minimum values, points of inflection and sketch the graph of a function;
analyze and solve maximum and minimum derivative application problems including related rates and optimization;
determine the differential of a function and solve related problems;
determine the indefinite integral of xⁿ and uⁿ functions, and apply these concepts to solve linear motion, series and parallel circuit problems;
compute the definite integral of a simple function and determine area under a curve, area between curves and centroids;
determine the derivatives of simple logarithmic functions and the anti-derivatives of simple exponential functions;
determine volume by the method of solid of revolution (optional); and
research a journal article from a publication in their field and prepare an abstract summarizing an application of calculus (optional).

Technology Objectives:

Students will be able to demonstrate proficiency with a graphing calculator in performing the following skills: changing modes, evaluating a function, graphing algebraic functions, finding roots of polynomials, points of intersection with axes, maximum, minimum, trace, and zoom.

Prerequisites: MT 122 or MT 126 or equivalent and/or appropriate mathematics level code.*
F/S (N)

*Level code is determined by Mathematics Department placement test and/or successful completion of math courses.