MATH 128: Multivariable Calculus

Welcome to the webpage for the MATH 128 course – Calculus II/Multivariable Calculus – at the FAES Graduate School at NIH. This course extends the previous calculus course (MATH 127; one semester of calculus is a prerequisite) to include the study of functions of multiple variables and their nontrivial consequences to applications and theory.

The course begins with a review of calculus, vectors, and parametric functions, then moving on to partial derivatives, maxima and minima of multivariable functions, double and triple integrals, and some advanced topics of vector calculus. In addition to the conceptual changes, moving from one-dimensional domain and range functions \(f(x)\) to vector-valued ones such as \(F(x,y,z) \) allows realistic models from the natural sciences to be addressed and expands the box of calculus tools to an extensive and flexible set.

A textbook covering multivariable calculus is required, so all students need at least a (free) digital copy of APEX Calculus (affordable hard copies are available in different volumes; they should include at least chapters 10-14 for this course); it is a concise text that covers all the essential topics. Other textbooks may be used as long as they cover the topics listed in the syllabus, for instance Calculus: Early Transcendentals a version of which has been used in the previous course (any edition from the 6th on will cover the course topics, earlier editions probably will as well).

Here you will be able to find the course syllabus. If you are enrolled in this course you can log into the student course page using this link, or you can enroll here.