Math 104-03
The Mathematics of Powered Flight
Spring 2008
CLASS MEETING TIMES. MWF 11--11:50 Jones 301
OFFICE HOURS.
Monday and Wednesday 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. or by appointment.
Please feel free to stop by and ask questions any time I am in
my office. If I am busy (and it is not my office hours) I may
ask you to come by later.
DESCRIPTION.
The course has no standard mathematical agenda. We will not study
trigonometry,
calculus, or any other part of the usual mathematics curriculum.
Instead, we will examine some commonly experienced (by pilots and/or
passengers) aspects of airplane flight and try to
understand them via quantitative tools.
REQUIRED BACKGROUND.
This course has no formal prerequisites in mathematics or physics. However,
physical concepts will be introduced in order to derive straightforward
formulas. Mathematics is the language for these formulas. Concepts from
trigonometry, exponential functions, and logarithms will be introduced as needed.
TEXT.
Fear of Flying by the Numbers by George T. Rublein.
The text is available at your friendly neighborhood bookstore.
HOMEWORK.
Homework will be given on roughly a weekly basis.
Late homeworks are not accepted except in the
case of an unanticipatable absence (e.g. serious illness, death in the
family, loss of your favorite DVD etc.).
OTHER REQUIREMENTS.
You will need an inexpensive calculator which has the buttons
SIN, COS, TAN, LOG, and Y to the x. Fancier calculators are fine,
but are of no additional help with regard to this course. You will need
a simple protractor, available in the W&M bookstore or any store
that sells school supplies. You will need high level navigation
maps.
EXAMINATIONS.
There will be two exams (tenatively Feb. 27 and April 11) as well
as a final exam. The final exam is scheduled for Monday, April 28 from
8:30--11:30 a.m.. All three exams will be "almost closed
book", i.e. students may use one (three for the final) 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of
notes. Such notes may be on both sides of the paper, but they should be
in orginal pen or pencil, not photo-copies. Makeup exams will be
considered only in the case of unanticipatable absences. Students who miss
an exam for any other reason will receive a grade of zero.
GRADES.
Final grades will be based on five values: homework and quiz average, class
participation, exam 1, exam 2, and the final exam. Homework average
is the total number of points you have received on homeworks as a
percent of the total possible. The five percent values will be weighted.
- Hmk/Quiz Avg----25%
- Class Part.--------5%
- Exam 1----------20%
- Exam 2----------20%
- Final------------30%
Final grades may be ``curved" (in your favor). If the final grades are not
curved then the following scale will apply
- A 92% and above,
- B 80--91%,
- C 70--79%,
- D 60--69%,
- F 59% and below.
TENATIVE COURSE OUTLINE
- Ch. 1--Cross Winds (and Appendix 1a: Triangles)
- Ch. 2 Roses
- Ch. 3 Navigation (and Appendix 3: Instruments)
- Ch. 4 Service
- Ch. 5 Luggage
- Exam 1
- Ch. 6 Maps
- Ch. 7 Short Paths (Appendix 7a: COMPSYS)
- Ch. 8 Falling Bodies
- Ch. 9 Pressure (Appendix 9: Instruments)
- Ch.10 Magnetism
- Exam 2
- Ch.11 Projections
- Ch.12 Pressure Vessels
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