Math 121 - Calculus I
Fall 2026
Emily Proctor




Please read the syllabus to learn all the details about the course.

If you would like another source for problems and explanations, here are Paul's Online Notes.




Homework

---

Week beginning September 14

For Tuesday, September 15:

• Please type (up to) a page about who you are as a mathematician (classes or experiences you've had, anything you've liked, anything you've disliked...) as well as your motivations for taking Calculus 1 this fall. Please be honest about all of it; this is just a simple, informal assignment that will help me start to get to know you. If there is anything else you'd like me to know as we start the semester, please include that too. Print out two copies of your page and turn them in at the start of class on Tuesday.


• Complete the problems on the introductory survey that was passed out in class. You will not need to turn your answers in, but you will need to have them with you in class on Tuesday.


• Order or obtain a copy of our textbook, (Single Variable) Calculus, Early Transcendentals, 9th ed. by James Stewart, et al.

For Wednesday, September 16:

• Log into Edfinity (check your email for the registration information) and do Demo Assignment 0.


• Familiarize yourself with p.32 of Stewart. This is a table of the main families of functions that we will be working with this semester.


• Read Section 1.3 of Stewart.

For Friday, September 18:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 1.3.


• From Section 1.3 of Stewart write up problems: 8a, 12, 15, 31ab, 56.


• When writing up your problem sets, make sure to always show all the work that justifies your final answer, and explain your thinking.


• Read Sections 1.4 and 1.5 of Stewart.

Week beginning September 21

For Monday, September 21:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 1.4 and 1.5.


• From Section 1.4 of Stewart write up problems: 11, 15, 21.


• From Section 1.5 of Stewart write up problems: 3, 17.


• We will be continuing with Section 1.5 of Stewart on Monday. Read Section 2.1 of Stewart for Tuesday.

For Wednesday, September 23:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 1.5.


• From Section 1.5 of Stewart write up problems: 20, 33, 42abc, 56, 57ab.


• Read Sections 2.1 and 2.2 of Stewart.


• Here is the Desmos demonstration of finding the tangent line to e^x at x=0 for you to play with.


• If you are finding that you would like another source of problems and explanations, try out Paul's Online Notes, linked at the top of this page.

For Friday, September 25:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 2.1 and 2.2.


• From Section 2.1 of Stewart write up problem: 1ab.


• From Section 2.2 of Stewart write up problems: 6a-l (note that the graph of h is below problem 6), 10, 11, 18.


• Read Section 2.3 of Stewart.

Week beginning September 28

For Monday, September 28:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 2.2.


• From Section 2.2 of Stewart write up problems: 8 (note that the graph to use is the one that is below, rather than above, the problem!), 29, 30, 32, 33.


• Read Section 2.5 of Stewart.

For Wednesday, September 30:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 2.3.


• From Section 2.3 of Stewart write up problems: 2, 10, 13, 23, 25 (hint: for Problem 23, see Ex. 6 p.99).


• We will continue to discuss Section 2.5 of Stewart.


• Our first midterm will be in class next Tuesday, October 6. On Monday, October 5 we will use class for an optional review session. Our exam will cover from the beginning of the year, though Section 2.6 of Stewart. Here is a list of topics for you to review!

For Friday, October 2:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 2.5.


• From Section 2.5 of Stewart write up problems: 5, 23, 25, 29, 41.


• Read Section 2.6 of Stewart.


• In order to help you prepare for our midterm next week, here is a practice exam in the style of our midterm. And here are the solutions.


• You can also prepare one side of a 4x6 index card to bring to the test with you.

Week beginning October 5

For Monday, October 5:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 2.6.


• From Section 2.6 of Stewart write up problems: 10, 18, 27, 34, 37 (hint for Problem 37: try using a strategy similar to the strategy for Problems 18 and 27).


• If you'd like to keep a copy of your homework, I will pass out solutions to this assignment on Monday after you've turned it in so that you can check your work.


• Prepare for our exam on Tuesday. Monday's class will be a review session. I won't come with an agenda, so please bring any questions and we will talk about them!


• For your calendar: our final exam is scheduled for Saturday, December 19, 2-5pm.

For Wednesday, October 7:

• Read Section 2.7 of Stewart.

For Friday, October 9:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 2.7.


• From Section 2.7 of Stewart write up problems: 3ab, 15a, 19, 28, 40.


• There are several good problems in this section that help develop intuition for the derivative. Here are a few more problems (not required) to practice with, if you would like: 11, 15b, 16, 17, 51 or 53.


• Read Section 2.8 of Stewart.

Week beginning October 12

For Monday, October 12:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 2.8.


• From Section 2.8 of Stewart write up problems: 9, 12, 27, 39, 42.


• If Problems 9 and 12 don't feel natural at first, you could try Problem 1 as a warm-up (not required).


• For Edfinity Problem 7, and book Problem 42, have a look at p.158-9 of Stewart. We will talk more about these on Monday.


• Read Section 3.1 of Stewart.

For Wednesday, October 14:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 3.1.


• From Section 2.8 of Stewart write up problem: 49. From Section 3.1 of Stewart write up problems: 12, 39, 53, 60.


• Note: On Tuesday, we will learn some theorems about how compute derivatives more simply. Because of these, by the end of class on Tuesday you'll be able to do many of the problems on this assignment more quickly than on previous assignments. You are not required to use the definition of the derivative to do these homework problems!


• Read Section 3.2 of Stewart.

Week beginning October 19

For Monday, October 19:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 3.2.


• From Section 3.2 of Stewart write up problems: 1, 12, 32, 46, 54.


• Read over your exam and the comments. Focus a fair portion of your attention on the positive comments, remembering that I was thinking of you specifically when I made them. When reading the corrections and suggestions, take some time to consider and follow up on them, either by doing a little review or by asking for help.


• Read Section 3.3 of Stewart.


• Please take a moment to fill out this short survey from the Q-center. Your response really helps!

For Wednesday, October 21:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 3.3.


• From Section 3.3 of Stewart write up problems: 18, 24, 29, 36, 39*.


• *For Problem 3.3.39, you only need to find the value(s) of x that lie in the interval [0,2pi].


• Read Sections 3.4 and 3.5 of Stewart.


• We have started using trig! If you would like to/need to review some of the topics, Appendix D, p.A24-A27 at the end of our textbook and the trig review section of Paul's Online Notes are good resources. If you would like practice problems, Problems 1-11, 17-20, 23-34, 65, 67, 83, 87 from Appendix D are representative of the types of trig topics we will be assuming for our class.


• Our second midterm will be in class next Tuesday, October 27. We will use class on Monday, October 26 for a review session. Our exam will cover what we have learned about derivatives (Section 2.7 to Section 3.6). Here is a list of topics for you to review!

For Friday, October 23:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 3.4 and 3.5.


• From Section 3.4 of Stewart write up problems: 33, 59, 65*.


• From Section 3.5 of Stewart write up problems: 11, 31.


• *For Problem 3.4.65, just find the values of x in the interval [0,2pi] for which the tangent is horizontal. Hint: factor 2cosx out of the derivative.


• Here is the Desmos demonstration that we used for our example of implicit differentiation.


• Read Section 3.6 of Stewart.


• In order to help you prepare for our midterm next week, here is a practice exam in the style of our midterm. And here are the solutions.


• You can also prepare one side of a 4x6 index card to bring to the test with you.

Week beginning October 26

For Monday, October 26:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 3.6.


• From Section 3.6 of Stewart write up problems: 11, 30, 37, 40, 57*.


• *For Problem 3.6.57, please do simplify your answer.


• If you'd like to keep a copy of your homework, I will pass out solutions on Monday after you've turned it in so that you can check your work.


• Prepare for our exam on Tuesday. Monday's class will be a review session. Please bring your questions and we will talk about them!

For Wednesday, October 28:

• Read Section 3.10 of Stewart.

For Friday, October 30:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 3.10.


• From Section 3.10 of Stewart write up problems: 2, 31, 33, 51ab*, 52a.


• For Problem 3.10.51b, consider how the changing values of the derivative (i.e. slope) of f will impact the shape of f!


• Read Section 4.1 of Stewart.

Week beginning November 2

For Monday, November 2:

• Do Edfinity Assignment 4.1.1.


• From Section 4.1 of Stewart write up problems: 5, 8, 11, 37, 45*.


• *For Problem 45, just find the critical numbers of f(x) in the interval [0,2pi]. (Recall your work from Problem 3.4.65!)


• Finding critical points is a bit of an algebra moment. If you would like some extra examples to look at, I would recommend the critical points section of Paul's Online Notes, in particular Examples 3, 5, and 7.


• We will continue with Section 4.1 of Stewart on Monday.