Math 344: Introduction to Combinatorics

Announcements

This page will serve as a repository for all information about Math 344 in Winter, 2004. The syllabus passed out on the first day of class is also available.

Marks

The final exam has been marked, and course marks have been finalized. Please see the Course Marks page for your unofficial (but, I hope, entirely correct) marks.

Course marks are no longer available. If you don't know your mark yet, please get in touch with me.

Final Exam

General Information

According to this page, our final exam is scheduled for Wednesday, April 21st, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon, in Room 200, Brennan Hall (St. Michael's College, 81 St. Mary Street). More information will be available nearer to the date.

I am told that students are responsible for knowing where and when the final exam is given. Please check April/May 2004 Examination Schedule from the Registrar's office (and verify that it is, indeed, the correct page) for the correct information.

The Exam

The exam and solutions are now available as PDF files. Please let me know if you find any errors or confusing commentary.

Review

The exam will cover all the topics, with an emphasis on the material since the midterm (which was through Section 3.3 of Tucker). The best review I can suggest is to review your notes, quizzes, and homeworks. I did pass out a review sheet of problems, shamelessly lifted from old Math 344 classes (and other sources). You should not assume these problems are representative of the exam, only that they cover material appropriate to the exam. Solutions are now available. Please email me with suggestions or corrections.

Pre-Final Exam Office Hours

Peter will have extra office hours on the following days and times:

• Wednesday, April 14: 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
• Thursday, April 15: 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
• Friday, April 16: 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
• Monday, April 19:
  • 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
  • 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
• Tuesday, April 20:
  • 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
  • 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

All office hours will take place in Sidney Smith Hall Room 4061.

Homework

Here is the homework, as assigned in class, in reverse chronological order. The date in parentheses shows in which class the assignment was made. Links go to comments made about specific problems (or at least problems in that section).

Chapter 8

• Tucker 8.2, Problems 5, 10, 15, 19, 27     (April 6, 2004)
• Tucker 8.1, Problems 3, 5, 11, 17, 21     (April 6, 2004)

Chapter 7

• Tucker 7.1, Problems 8, 11, 13, 19, 25, 27, 49(abcd)     (March 30, 2004)

Chapter 6

• Tucker 6.3, Problems 4, 5, 11, 22     (March 30, 2004)
• Tucker 6.2, Problems 3, 7, 11, 17, 31, 36     (March 25, 2004)
  Note: These problems were originally listed on the web as the assignment for Tucker 6.1. This was inadvertant; the homework as assigned in class was correct.
• Tucker 6.1, Problems 3, 5, 11, 15, 19     (March 25, 2004)
  Note: These problems were originally listed on the web as the assignment for Tucker 6.2. This was inadvertant; the homework as assigned in class was correct.

Chapter 5

• Tucker 5.5, Problems 9, 11, 13, 19, 23, 31     (March 23, 2004)
• Tucker 5.4, Problems 5, 7, 13, 15, 27, 41, 49, 50     (March 23, 2004)
• Tucker 5.3, Problems 3, 5, 12, 19, 25     (March 18, 2004)
• Tucker 5.2, Problems 11, 13, 17, 19, 59, 61, 67     (March 16, 2004)
• Tucker 5.1, Problems 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 22, 23, 27     (March 11, 2004)

Chapter 4

• Tucker 4.3, Problems 1, 3, 5, 9, 15     (March 9, 2004)
• Tucker 4.2, Problems 1, 3, 5, 7, 12     (March 2, 2004)
• Tucker 4.1, Problems 1, 3, 5, 9     (February 26, 2004)

Chapter 3

• Tucker 3.3, Problems 2, 5, 7     (February 10, 2004)
• Tucker 3.2, Problems 3, 4, 5, 19, 22     (February 10, 2004)
• Tucker 3.1, Problems 2, 5, 10, 19, 23, 29, 30     (February 3 & 5, 2004)

Chapter 2

• Tucker 2.4, Problems 1, 2, 6, 9, 11     (January 27, 2004)
• Tucker 2.3, Problems 1(bcfik), 3^*, 7, 9^**, 15     (January 27, 2004)
• Tucker 2.2, Problems 2, 4(afn), 7, 8, 9, 18     (January 22, 2004)
• Tucker 2.1, Problems 2, 3^*, 7, 10, 19(abc)     (January 20, 2004)

Chapter 1

• Tucker Chapter 1, Supplemental, Problems 3, 7, 8, 31     (February 12, 2004, in preparation for the midterm)
• Tucker 1.4, Problems 3(abcd), 5, 8, 15, 24     (January 15, 2004)
• Tucker 1.3, Problems 1, 2, 6, 8(a), 11     (January 13, 2004)
• Tucker 1.2, Problems 1, 2, 7, 16     (January 8, 2004)
• Tucker 1.1, Problems 1, 3, 4, 7, 18, 23, 26, 36     (January 6, 2004)

General Exam Information

No make-up quizzes will be given, although two scores will be dropped. Make-up exams will be given only in the most dire of circumstances. Please see me as soon as possible if you must miss an exam.

Also, some combinatorics problems are ``obvious'' in the sense that it is possible to solve the problem in one's head. This is not the way to solve a quiz or exam problem; you should show your work or explain your reasoning. An answer (even correct) alone is worth little to no credit. You have been warned!

Quizzes

The quizzes take place at the start of class every Tuesday. There will be no quiz on the week of the midterm exam. Quizzes will be worth 40% of the term mark; the lowest two quiz scores will be dropped.

Quiz Eight

The eighth (and final) quiz, covering Sections 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5 of Tucker's book, was Tuesday, March 30th. Solutions (revised and corrected, April 16, 2004) are also available.

Quiz Seven

The sixth quiz, covering Sections 5.1 and 5.2 of Tucker's book, was Tuesday, March 23rd. Solutions are also available.

Quiz Six

The sixth quiz, covering Section 4.3 of Tucker's book, was Tuesday, March 16th. Solutions are also available.

Quiz Five

The fifth quiz, covering Sections 4.1 and 4.2 of Tucker's book, was Tuesday, March 9th. Solutions are also available.

Quiz Four

The fourth quiz, covering Sections 2.4 and 3.1 of Tucker's book, was Tuesday, February 10th. Solutions are also available.

Quiz Three

The third quiz, covering Sections 2.2 and 2.3 of Tucker's book, was Tuesday, February 3rd. Solutions are also available.

Quiz Two

The second quiz, covering Sections 1.4 and 2.1 of Tucker's book, was Tuesday, January 27th. Solutions are also available.

Quiz One

The first quiz, covering Sections 1.1 to 1.3 of Tucker's book, was Tuesday, January 20th. Solutions are also available.

Midterm Exam

Exam Results

The exam has been marked and returned. The exam and solutions are available as PDF files.

General Information

The midterm exam was in class on Tuesday, February 24th. It covered Tucker's book through Section 3.3 (that is, all of the first three chapters except Section 3.4). There was a review handout available with solutions.

Marking Scheme

Your term mark is based 40% on quizzes (with the two lowest quizzes dropped) and 60% on the midterm exam. Your overall course grade will be based on 60% of the higher of your final mark and your term mark, and 40% of the lower. Thus

course mark = 60% of max ( term, final ) + 40% of min ( term, final ) .

Links

• My web page
• Someone else has compiled a web page of corrections to the textbook.
• Martin Round has a web page on what he calls the Minimum Attack chess puzzle (Problem 23 in Section 1.1), together with a Java applet that will solve the problem.

Office Hours:

Peter M. Garfield, Sidney Smith Hall Room 4061
Tuesdays, 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Thursdays, 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
And by appointment