Math 20c - Winter 2017: Exam Information

On this page, you will find general information for the exams.


This course will have two midterm exams, and one final exam. Midterm 1 will be held in class on February 3rd. Midterm 2 will be held in class on March 3rd. The final will be held on March 20th from 3:00pm to 6:00pm. The location of the final exam has yet to be determined. It is your responsibility to ensure that you attend the final exam. If you cannot attend the final exam, you must unenroll from the course.


Please see the course syllabus for details on how much of your overall grade each exam is worth.


You may bring one 8.5x11in. sheet paper of handwritten notes (NO PHOTOCOPIES). You will be required to turn in your note sheet with exam, and you will get your note sheet back when you pick up your exam.


We have a zero tolerance policy towards academic misconduct. Please review the information on the following links for more information about UCSD's commitment to academic integrity:


Midterm 1 study material

Below are two exams that were given as the first exam for math 20c in previous quarters. These exams are presented exactly how they were given that quarter.


Since I did not write those exams, I will not promise that our exam will have the same feel as these ones. However, if you can solve (and understand) these problems, then you should be in good standing for the midterm. Please note that it is very easy to find more sample exams by Googling "ucsd math 20c" and looking at course websites for past courses.

  • Spring 2015 Midterm 1 (Solutions) (correction: in the solution for Q3 where I use polar coordinates, I am technically using the squeeze theorem again when I say the limit is zero independent of the angle theta. To make this solution rigorous, use the fact that cos^2(theta) is at least 0 and at most 1.)
  • Fall 2016 Midterm 1 (Solutions)
Midterm 2 study material

Below are two exams that were given as the first exam for math 20c in previous quarters. These exams are presented exactly how they were given that quarter.


Since I did not write those exams, I will not promise that our exam will have the same feel as these ones. However, if you can solve (and understand) these problems, then you should be in good standing for the midterm. Please note that it is very easy to find more sample exams by Googling "ucsd math 20c" and looking at course websites for past courses.

Note that these classes went at a different pace than ours. In particular, they spent a bit more time on the geometry of 3-space, and pushed linear approximation back a little bit. Our midterm 2 will not include linear approximation since we had it on midterm 1. Instead, be sure to practice the chain rule that involves matrices.

I've included a sheet of practice problems. You should understand how to do these problems by the time we take the exam. We will go over some of these questions in class on Wednesday, March 1st.

Final study material

Below are two exams that were given as the first exam for math 20c in previous quarters. These exams are presented exactly how they were given that quarter.


Since I did not write those exams, I will not promise that our exam will have the same feel as these ones. However, if you can solve (and understand) these problems, then you should be in good standing for the midterm. Do not get overconfident by sample final 1. That one is very easy. Please note that it is very easy to find more sample exams by Googling "ucsd math 20c" and looking at course websites for past courses.

Please be sure to check my calculations in these solutions.