My office hours during finals week are
Monday, April 30 1:00-2:20pm
Tuesday, May 1 9:00-11:20am
Monday, April 30, 2018
Monday, April 23, 2018
Last Week of Classes
This is the last week of classes! We will be reviewing for the final on Tuesday and Thursday. I have posted subject reviews and a sample final exam in the folder titled "Final Exam Reviews" on the right side of the screen. Your final will include questions from Voting Theory, Finance, Probability and Statistics, and Graph Theory. Please look over the reviews and come prepared with questions on Tuesday and Thursday. I will also be providing you with a formula sheet. I will upload the formula sheet to this folder later this week.
The WeBWork homework has been reopened for you to go back and redo any problems that you missed over the semester. You can do this until Friday, April 27. This is a good way to review for the final and to earn back any homework points you lost earlier in the semester.
Our last topic last Thursday was the Shapley-Shubik power index. This will not be tested on the Final exam since you have not had sufficient time to ask about it, but will be included as an optional bonus question on the final. Are there other measures of power in weighted voting systems? How can the electoral college be considered a weighted voting system? Do certain states have more "power" than others in the electoral college? Why or why not? Do a google search and report on your findings in the comments.
Don't forget that the CAS is offering review sessions Monday-Thursday this week from 4pm-6pm each afternoon. You do not have to stay for the full 2 hours if it doesn't work with your schedule. I strongly encourage you to take advantage of this review opportunity.
The WeBWork homework has been reopened for you to go back and redo any problems that you missed over the semester. You can do this until Friday, April 27. This is a good way to review for the final and to earn back any homework points you lost earlier in the semester.
Our last topic last Thursday was the Shapley-Shubik power index. This will not be tested on the Final exam since you have not had sufficient time to ask about it, but will be included as an optional bonus question on the final. Are there other measures of power in weighted voting systems? How can the electoral college be considered a weighted voting system? Do certain states have more "power" than others in the electoral college? Why or why not? Do a google search and report on your findings in the comments.
Don't forget that the CAS is offering review sessions Monday-Thursday this week from 4pm-6pm each afternoon. You do not have to stay for the full 2 hours if it doesn't work with your schedule. I strongly encourage you to take advantage of this review opportunity.
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Voting
This week, we've discussed some fairness criteria and started looking at weighted voting systems.
Recall that the state of Maine voted in November to switch to plurality with elimination (called ranked choice voting) for many of their elections. Here are some interesting articles about this switch and about plurality vs plurality with elimination
Maine's Ranked Choice Voting: It's not Plurality (has a couple interesting videos)
Top 5 Ways Plurality Voting Fails
Maine Ranked Choice Voting Initiative, Question 5(2016) - Ballotpedia
Portland Press Herald
Podcast Meeting with Supporters on Both sides of Question 5 (scroll down to find this)
The Reasons for Maine to Adopt Ranked Choice Voting are Unconvincing
Yes on '5': No More Lesser of Two Evils in Maine
Maine became the first state in the country . . . to pass ranked choice voting
Can you find any interesting articles about Question 5 on Maine's ballot? How would you have voted on Question 5?
Recall that the state of Maine voted in November to switch to plurality with elimination (called ranked choice voting) for many of their elections. Here are some interesting articles about this switch and about plurality vs plurality with elimination
Maine's Ranked Choice Voting: It's not Plurality (has a couple interesting videos)
Top 5 Ways Plurality Voting Fails
Maine Ranked Choice Voting Initiative, Question 5(2016) - Ballotpedia
Portland Press Herald
Podcast Meeting with Supporters on Both sides of Question 5 (scroll down to find this)
The Reasons for Maine to Adopt Ranked Choice Voting are Unconvincing
Yes on '5': No More Lesser of Two Evils in Maine
Maine became the first state in the country . . . to pass ranked choice voting
Can you find any interesting articles about Question 5 on Maine's ballot? How would you have voted on Question 5?
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Voting Theory
We will be finishing off the semester with a discussion of voting theory. The notes and worksheets for this unit can be found on the right side of the blog. There will only be paper homework for this last unit. I will collect the first worksheet in class on Tuesday, April 17.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Exam 3
Your third exam for MAT110(E) is scheduled for Tuesday, April 10. An exam review is located in the Handouts folder linked on the right side of the blog. Please print this out and bring it with you to class on Thursday. You should attempt the problems before coming to class so that we can focus our discussion on the problems that students most struggled with.
I have posted a couple videos below reviewing annuities and amortized loans.
After the exam, we will begin a small unit on Voting Theory. Thank you to everyone who filled out the mid-semester survey to select our last topic.
I have posted a couple videos below reviewing annuities and amortized loans.
After the exam, we will begin a small unit on Voting Theory. Thank you to everyone who filled out the mid-semester survey to select our last topic.
Sunday, April 1, 2018
Refinancing and Paying Ahead
Last week, we saw two ways to save money in an amortized loan. The first option was to refinance. This means to transfer the outstanding balance of your loan to a newer loan with a lower interest rate (and perhaps a different term). To do this, you must find the unpaid balance of your loan. The formula for this looks just like the formula we use for an amortized loan with P replaced by U and the mt in the exponent replaced with N, where N is the number of payments remaining on the loan:
\[ U = R\left[\dfrac{1-\left(1+\frac{r}{m}\right)^{-N}}{\frac{r}{m}}\right] \]
The second way to save we looked at was to pay extra towards reducing your principal each month. We called this "paying ahead". In this situation, we want to use the formula for the amortized loan to solve for t to determine how soon we would pay off the loan. You should also be able to determine how much money you save by paying a fixed amount extra each month.
\[ P = R\left[\dfrac{1-\left(1+\frac{r}{m}\right)^{-mt}}{\frac{r}{m}}\right] \]
There are many calculators online to help answer these questions and more about taking out a loan. Below are links to some calculators that you may find useful when you want to consider taking out a loan in the future.
Bankrate.com
Amortization Schedule Calculator
Mortgage Payoff Calculator
Cost of Living Calculator
Is it Better to Rent or Buy?
We will only be considering fixed rate loans in all of our examples. But lenders may also offer you an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). As the name suggests, with an adjustable rate mortgage, your rate can change, depending on market rates. These loans can be risky - if rates go up, so does your monthly payment.
Challenge Problem: (Due Tuesday, April 10) Determine what kind of job you want to have after you graduate. Research salaries for this job in your dream town. Using a home affordability calculator, determine how expensive a house you could afford based on this salary. Then, go to zillow.com, and choose a home to purchase (in your budget) in your dream town. Looking at current interest rates, choose a loan. Given this loan, calculate the following by hand. (You may use the online calculator to check your answers, but you must also work out the answers by hand.)
1. Your monthly payments.
2. The amount of interest you would pay by just making the minimal monthly payments.
3. The amount of interest you would pay by paying an extra $100 each month and how soon you would be able to pay off the loan.
4. The amount of interest you would pay by paying an extra $250 each month and how soon you would be able to pay off the loan.
Include the resources you used to determine your future salary, home affordability, loan terms, and the Zillow page for the home you chose.
\[ U = R\left[\dfrac{1-\left(1+\frac{r}{m}\right)^{-N}}{\frac{r}{m}}\right] \]
The second way to save we looked at was to pay extra towards reducing your principal each month. We called this "paying ahead". In this situation, we want to use the formula for the amortized loan to solve for t to determine how soon we would pay off the loan. You should also be able to determine how much money you save by paying a fixed amount extra each month.
\[ P = R\left[\dfrac{1-\left(1+\frac{r}{m}\right)^{-mt}}{\frac{r}{m}}\right] \]
There are many calculators online to help answer these questions and more about taking out a loan. Below are links to some calculators that you may find useful when you want to consider taking out a loan in the future.
Bankrate.com
Amortization Schedule Calculator
Mortgage Payoff Calculator
Cost of Living Calculator
Is it Better to Rent or Buy?
We will only be considering fixed rate loans in all of our examples. But lenders may also offer you an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). As the name suggests, with an adjustable rate mortgage, your rate can change, depending on market rates. These loans can be risky - if rates go up, so does your monthly payment.
Challenge Problem: (Due Tuesday, April 10) Determine what kind of job you want to have after you graduate. Research salaries for this job in your dream town. Using a home affordability calculator, determine how expensive a house you could afford based on this salary. Then, go to zillow.com, and choose a home to purchase (in your budget) in your dream town. Looking at current interest rates, choose a loan. Given this loan, calculate the following by hand. (You may use the online calculator to check your answers, but you must also work out the answers by hand.)
1. Your monthly payments.
2. The amount of interest you would pay by just making the minimal monthly payments.
3. The amount of interest you would pay by paying an extra $100 each month and how soon you would be able to pay off the loan.
4. The amount of interest you would pay by paying an extra $250 each month and how soon you would be able to pay off the loan.
Include the resources you used to determine your future salary, home affordability, loan terms, and the Zillow page for the home you chose.
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