LINEAR ALGEBRA FOR ENGINEERING FALL 2023

MATH 115
Published Aug 23, 2023

CLASS SCHEDULE

Section Location Time Instructor(s)

Mondays, Wednesdays &

Fridays
8:30 a.m. - 9:20 a.m.

Thursdays
10:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m. Lucia Martin Merchan
lucia.martinmerchan@uwaterloo.
MATH 115 001 [LEC] Tuesday, September 12th
ca
RCH 301 3:30 p.m. - 4:20 p.m.

Tuesday, October 3rd

3:30 p.m. - 4:20 p.m.

Tuesday, November 7th

3:30 p.m. - 4:20 p.m.

Mondays
MATH 115 101 [TUT]
4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.

Mondays & Fridays

8:30 a.m. - 9:20 a.m.

Wednesdays
10:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.

Tuesdays
1:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m. Graeme Turner
MATH 115 002 [LEC] E7 5353 [email protected]
Tuesday, September 26th
12:30 p.m. - 1:20 p.m.

Tuesday, October 31st

12:30 p.m. - 1:20 p.m.

Tuesday, November 21st

12:30 p.m. - 1:20 p.m.

Mondays
MATH 115 102 [TUT] AL 113
4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.

This table is generated automatically

Section Location Time Instructor(s)

Thursdays
3:30 p.m. - 4:20 p.m.

Mondays, Wednesdays &

Fridays
2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.
Graeme Turner
MATH 115 003 [LEC] Tuesday, September 26th [email protected]
E7 5353 4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.

Tuesday, October 31st

4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.

Tuesday, November 21st

4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.

Mondays
MATH 115 103 [TUT]
4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.

Mondays
2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

Tuesdays & Thursdays

1:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.

Wednesdays
12:30 p.m. - 1:20 p.m. Nicole Kitt
MATH 115 004 [LEC] [email protected]
Wednesday, September 20th
E7 5343
8:30 a.m. - 9:20 a.m.

Wednesday, October 25th

8:30 a.m. - 9:20 a.m.

Wednesday, November 15th

8:30 a.m. - 9:20 a.m.

Mondays
MATH 115 104 [TUT]
4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.
This table is generated automatically
Section Location Time Instructor(s)

Mondays
2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

Thursdays
10:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.

Tuesdays
8:30 a.m. - 10:20 a.m. Aleksandar Milivojevic
MATH 115 005 [LEC] [email protected]
Friday, September 15th
RCH 103
9:30 a.m. - 10:20 a.m.

Friday, November 3rd

9:30 a.m. - 10:20 a.m.

Friday, November 24th

9:30 a.m. - 10:20 a.m.

Mondays
MATH 115 105 [TUT]
4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.

Thursdays
QNC 1502
11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.

Tuesdays
RCH 103
11:30 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.

Mondays
RCH 302
8:30 a.m. - 10:20 a.m. Sean Monahan
MATH 115 006 [LEC] [email protected]
Friday, September 22nd
1:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.

Friday, October 27th

RCH 301
1:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.

Friday, November 10th

1:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.
This table is generated automatically
Section Location Time Instructor(s)

Mondays
MATH 115 106 [TUT] QNC 2502
4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.

Mondays & Wednesdays

8:30 a.m. - 9:50 a.m.

Tuesdays
9:30 a.m. - 10:20 a.m.

Wednesday, September 27th

MATH 115 007 [LEC]
10:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.
QNC 1502
Wednesday, November 15th
10:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.

Wednesday, November 29th

10:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.

Mondays
MATH 115 107 [TUT]
4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.

Thursdays
8:30 a.m. - 10:20 a.m.
RCH 301
Wednesdays
2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

Tuesdays
2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.
MATH 115 008 [LEC]
Monday, September 11th
2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

Monday, October 2nd

STC 0050
2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

Monday, November 6th

2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

Mondays
MATH 115 108 [TUT]
4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.

This table is generated automatically

 Section Location Time Instructor(s)

Mondays, Wednesdays &

Fridays
10:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.

Fridays
12:30 p.m. - 1:20 p.m.
Kateryna Tatarko
MATH 115 009 [LEC] Friday, September 15th [email protected]
RCH 211 1:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.

Friday, November 3rd

1:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.

Friday, November 24th

1:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.

Mondays
MATH 115 109 [TUT]
4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.

Mondays
8:30 a.m. - 9:20 a.m.

Thursdays
12:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.

Wednesdays
9:30 a.m. - 10:20 a.m. Ruikun Zhou
MATH 115 010 [LEC] [email protected]
Tuesday, September 19th
STC 0040
2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

Tuesday, October 31st

2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

Tuesday, November 21st

2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

Mondays
MATH 115 110 [TUT]
4:30 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.
This table is generated automatically

INSTRUCTOR / TA INFORMATION

Office hours and information regrading WEEF TAs will be posted on LEARN once it becomes available.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Calendar Description for MATH 115

Linear equations, matrices and determinants. Introduction to vector spaces. Eigenvalues and diagonalization. Applications.
Complex numbers. [Offered: F]

Prereq: 4U Calculus and Vectors or 4U Mathematics of Data Management; Engineering students only. Antireq: MATH 106, 114,
136, 146, NE 112
 This is a course on linear algebra and its applications to engineering. Topics to be covered include complex numbers; vectors, lines
and planes; systems of linear equations; matrices; introduction to vector spaces; linear transformations; determinants; eigenvalues,
eigenvectors and diagonalization; and orthogonal diagonalization. We approach the material through a blend of theoretical ideas,
computational methods, and some applications.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course students should be able to:

Perform basic arithmetic operations using complex numbers

Solve geometric problems using vectors, lines, and planes

Find the solution to a system of linear equations using matrices

Explain the concepts of linear independence, spanning, subspaces, and bases

Understand the basic concepts of abstract vector spaces

Recognize the link between matrices and linear mappings, and work with certain linear mappings including projections,
reflections, and rotations

Compute determinants, understand their algebraic properties and use them to compute areas and volumes

Determine the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a matrix and diagonalize a matrix

Present solutions to problems in a clear and logical manner with all steps being fully justified

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

Lecture Number

Topic Textbook Section (based on F'22)

Unit 1: Complex Numbers and Complex Polynomials (~5 Lectures)

Standard form, basic arithmetic operations 9.1 1

Complex conjugate, modulus, geometry 9.1 2

Polar form, powers of complex numbers 9.1 3

Complex nth roots, the complex exponential 9.1 4

Complex polynomials, introduction to proofs and sets 9.1 5, Appendix A

Unit 2: Vector Geometry (~6 Lectures)

Vectors and basic operations 1.1, 1.4 6

Norm and dot product 1.3, 1.5 7

Complex vectors, cross product in R^3 9.3, 1.3 8,9

The vector equation of a line 1.1 9

The vector equation of a plane, the scalar equation of a plane in R^3 1.1, 1.3 10

Projections, distances from points to lines and planes, volumes of parallelepipeds 1.5 11
Unit 3: Systems of Linear Equations (~6 Lectures)

Systems of linear equations 2.1 12

Solving systems of linear equations 2.1, 2.2, 9.2 13

Rank 2.3, 2.2 14

Homogeneous systems of linear equations 2.2 15

Applications: chemical reactions, linear models (assigned reading, not in lecture) 2.4 16

Applications: network flow, electrical networks (assigned reading, not in lecture) 2.4 17

Unit 4: Matrix Algebra (~5 Lectures)

Matrices and basic operations 3.1 18

The matrix-vector product 3.1 19

Matrix multiplication 3.1 20

Application: directed graphs (assigned reading, not in lecture) 3.1 21

Complex matrices, matrix inverses 3.5 22

Matrix inversion algorithm, properties of invertible matrices 3.5 23

Unit 5: Vector Spaces (~8 Lectures)

Spanning sets 1.2, 1.4 24

Linear dependence and linear independence 1.2, 1.4 25

Subspaces of R^n, bases of subspaces 1.4 26

Bases of subspaces, dimension 1.4, 2.3 27,28

Fundamental subspaces associated with a matrix 3.4 28,29

Vector Spaces, The vector space of mxn matrices 4.2, 4.3 30

The vector space of polynomials of degree at most n 4.1, 4.3 31

Unit 6: Linear Transformations (~4 Lectures)

Matrix transformations and linear transformations 3.2 32

Geometric transformations 3.2 32,33

Operations on linear transformations, inverse of a linear operator 3.2, 3.5 34,35

Kernel and range of a linear transformation 3.4 35

Unit 7: Determinants (~3 Lectures)

Determinants, adjugates, matrix inverses, elementary row/column operations 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 36,37

Properties of determinants 5.2 38

Application: polynomial interpolation (assigned reading, not in lecture) 5.4 38

Application: determinants and area/volume (assigned reading, not in lecture) 5.4 Appendix B

Unit 8: Eigenvalues, Eigenvectors and Diagonalization (~8 Lectures)

Eigenvalues and eigenvectors, characteristic polynomials 6.1 39

 Eigenspaces, algebraic and geometric multiplicities 6.1 40

Application: Markov chains 6.3 21

Diagonalization 6.2 41

Powers of a matrix 6.3 42

Orthogonal and orthonormal bases, orthogonal matrices 7.1 43

Gram-Schmidt procedure 7.2 44

Orthogonal diagonalization 8.1 45,46

TEXTS / MATERIALS

Title / Name Notes / Comments Required

An Introduction to Linear Algebra for No

Science and Engineering (3rd Edition)

The textbook is available at the W Store as either a paperback copy, or as a six-month subscription to a digital copy. We will be
providing practice problems every week that do not require you to have the textbook. The textbook will act as another source for
presentation of the course material and we will recommend additional problems from it as well.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT

Component Value

Tutorial Assignments 15%

Midterm 30%

Final Exam 55%

Tutorial Assignments: There will be approximately 9 tutorial assignments held in the weekly tutorials beginning on September
18, 2023. The assignments will be distributed at the start of your tutorial and will be due at the end of the tutorial at 5:20pm. The
best 8 tutorial assignments (equally weighted) will count towards your final mark. The tutorial will be open book but with no
calculators. Each week, a set of practice problems will be posted to help students prepare for the following week's tutorial
assignment.

Midterm: The midterm examination will be held on Tuesday, October 17, from 7:00-8:50pm. Information regarding the
room you write in and your seat will be distributed before the exam on Odyssey. Instructions for accessing this information will also
be posted at that time.

Final Exam: A 2.5 hour cumulative final examination will be scheduled by the Registrar's Office during the examination period
from Friday, December 8 to Friday, December 22, inclusively. Students are expected to be present during the final exam period.
December 22 is an emergency make-up day in the event of a campus closure during one of your final exams - you should ensure
your holiday plans allow you to be present on that day.

Missed Assessments: If you become seriously ill and are forced to miss an exam or a tutorial assignment, you must immediately
contact your instructor and the First Year Engineering Office to notify them of your condition. You must also promptly provide
medical documentation. If you have been infected with Covid-19, you may instead self-declare
 (https://uwaterloo.ca/quest/help/students/how-do-i/self-declare-my-illness-isolation) your illness on Quest. If the midterm is
missed (with proper documentation), we will normally assign a weight of 85% to your final exam. If the final exam is missed (with
proper documentation) and you have obtained a grade of at least 22.5 out of the possible 45 marks available from the tutorial
assignments and midterm, then you may be eligible for an INC grade.

Regrade Requests: If you feel there has been an error in the marking of your tutorial assignment or exam, you have one week
from the time you receive your graded work to request a regrade. Your regrade request should be directed to your
instructor, and should include the question(s) you would like regraded as well as a brief justification as to why you believe a regrade
is necessary. Regrade requests received after one week has elapsed will not be considered.

Holidays:

There will be no classes for any course during Reading Week, October 9-13.
There will be no classes during Midterm Week, October 16-20. You will be writing your midterms for each of your courses
during that week.

ASSIGNMENT SCREENING
No assignment screening will be used in this course.

ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY

Coronavirus information: Check the university’s webpage on coronavirus information for students
(https://uwaterloo.ca/coronavirus/academic-information) for updated information on COVID‐19 and guidance for
accommodations due to COVID‐19.

In the event that the University is forced to close due to the pandemic, we will pause the course for approximately one week in order
to prepare online resources. After this time, the course will resume as an online course. In this online course, we will release each
week's material at the beginning of the week, and you will have assignments rather than tutorial assignments that will be due at the
end of the week (these dates will be made clear to you should we find ourselves in this situation). We will still take your best n-1 out
of n assignment marks (where n may be less than 9), and the weights of the assignments, midterm and final will not change. Any
material in the course that is not covered as a result of our pausing the course will not appear on any assessment or test.

Mental Health Support: The Faculty of Math encourages students to seek out mental health support if needed.

On-campus Resources:

Campus Wellness: https://uwaterloo.ca/campus-wellness/ (https://uwaterloo.ca/campus-wellness/)

Counselling Services: [email protected]/ (mailto:[email protected]/) 519-888-4567 ext
32655
MATES: one-to-one peer support program offered by Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) and Counselling
Services: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
Health Services: located across the creek from the Student Life Centre, 519-888-4096.

Off-campus Resources:

Good2Talk (24/7): Free confidential help line for post-secondary students. Phone: 1-866-925-5454 (Ontario and Nova Scotia
only)
Here 24/7: Mental Health and Crisis Service Team. Phone: 1-844-437-3247 (Waterloo Region only)
OK2BME: set of support services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning teens. Phone: 519-884-0000
extension 213 (Waterloo Region only)
 EMPOWER ME: 1-833-628-5589 for Canada/USA. Other countries
see http://studentcare.ca/rte/en/IHaveAPlan_WUSA_EmpowerMe_EmpowerMe
(http://studentcare.ca/rte/en/IHaveAPlan_WUSA_EmpowerMe_EmpowerMe)
EMPOWER ME in China: China North: 108007142831; China South: 108001402851

Diversity: It is our intent that students from all diverse backgrounds and perspectives be well served by this course, and that
students’ learning needs be addressed both in and out of class. We recognize the immense value of the diversity in identities,
perspectives, and contributions that students bring, and the benefit it has on our educational environment. Your suggestions are
encouraged and appreciated. Please let us know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally or for other
students or student groups. In particular:

We will gladly honour your request to address you by an alternate/preferred name or gender pronoun. Please advise us of
this preference early in the term so we may make appropriate changes to our records.
We will honour your religious holidays and celebrations. Please inform of us these at the start of the course.
We will follow AccessAbility Services guidelines and protocols on how to best support students with different learning needs.

UNIVERSITY POLICY
Academic integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are
expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. [Check the Office of Academic Integrity
(https://uwaterloo.ca/academic-integrity/) for more information.]

Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of their university life has been unfair or unreasonable
may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4
(https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-70) . When in doubt, please be certain to contact the
department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity to avoid committing an academic offence, and to
take responsibility for their actions. [Check the Office of Academic Integrity (https://uwaterloo.ca/academic-integrity/) for more
information.] A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences
(e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course instructor, academic
advisor, or the undergraduate associate dean. For information on categories of offences and types of penalties, students should refer
to Policy 71, Student Discipline (https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-71) . For typical penalties,
check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties (https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/guidelines/guidelines-assessment-penalties) .

Appeals: A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances
(https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-70) (other than a petition) or Policy 71, Student Discipline
(https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-71) may be appealed if there is a ground. A student who
believes they have a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72, Student Appeals (https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-
procedures-guidelines/policy-72) .

Note for students with disabilities: AccessAbility Services (https://uwaterloo.ca/accessability-services/) , located in Needles
Hall, Room 1401, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities
without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of
your disability, please register with AccessAbility Services at the beginning of each academic term.

Turnitin.com: Text matching software (Turnitin®) may be used to screen assignments in this course. Turnitin® is used to verify
that all materials and sources in assignments are documented. Students' submissions are stored on a U.S. server, therefore students
must be given an alternative (e.g., scaffolded assignment or annotated bibliography), if they are concerned about their privacy
and/or security. Students will be given due notice, in the first week of the term and/or at the time assignment details are provided,
about arrangements and alternatives for the use of Turnitin in this course.
It is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor if they, in the first week of term or at the time assignment details are
provided, wish to submit alternate assignment.