Problems to study for Math 216 Exam 2

Here is a breakdown of Math 216 Exam 2 by topic. Each problem reference is a link, so you can click on it to see the problem. Your browser should take you to the right page of the exam, but keep in mind that the problem you're looking for might be toward the bottom of the page. Next to each problem you'll see a # character. If you click on that, it should take you to the solution.

Old exam problems should not be the only thing you study. They are designed to test knowledge, not teach it. And there's a danger that you might start thinking you know exactly what will be on the test. While there are some predictable topics, there will undoubtedly be questions on this year's exam which are different from any that have appeared before. So keep in mind that you're training yourself to approach hard problems, not memorizing how to do particular types.

Here's my suggestion for how to use this page:

  1. Try a sampling of problems to identify an area that you need help with.
  2. Go to your book to read about the topic.
  3. Come back here and find more problems on the same topic, to see if you got it.

Don't omit step 2.

I'm not entirely happy with the topics shown below. Please make suggestions on how to better categorize problems.

Let me know any errors you find, and any other feedback you have on how well it works and how to make it more useful. Links to all the exams are at the bottom of the page.

Topic 2001–2012 2013–present
problem involving linear second order, homogeneous equations [7#] [Mass spring system(4)#] [1#] [3#] [5#] [4#] [6#] [3a#] [3b#] [4a#] [4b#] [4c#] [6#] [1#] [4a#] [6#] [1#] [3#] [5a#] [5b#] [7a#] [7b#] [7d#]
problem involving the theory of second (or higher) order linear equations [5a#] [Linearity redux(2)#] [3#] [5#] [6#] [3#] [3#] [3#] [4#] [4#] [7a#] [3a#] [3b#] [5#] [5c#] [7#] [3#]
problem involving modeling with 2nd (or higher) order linear equations without forcing (e.g., spring problems without forcing) [Mass spring system(4a)#] [Mass spring system(4b)#] [Mass spring system(4)#] [More Lasers(7)#] [4#] [4#] [4#] [4#] [6a#] [2#]
problem involving modeling with 2nd (or higher) order linear equations (e.g., spring problems with forcing) [7#] [Chemical Reaction(3)#] [RLC Circuit(4)#] [Laser Model(7)#] [5c#] [6#] [3b#] [Another ruby laser(4)#] [Another ruby laser(4c)#] [6b#] [More Lasers(7c)#] [5#] [4b#] [4c#] [3#] [1a#] [1b#]
problem involving the use of the method of undetermined coefficients [1a#] [1#] [1#] [1a#] [1b#] [1b#] [3a#] [5a#] [4#] [6#] [1#] [7b#] [1#] [3#] [1#] [4#]
problem involving the use of variation of parameters [1b#] [6a#] [Another ruby laser(4b)#] [3c#] [3d#] [5#]
problem involving drawing or using a phase plane, including to analyze a nonlinear system [4#] [4#] [6#] [7#] [7#]
a problem consisting of true/false parts [5#] [5#] [5#] [8#]
problem involving the definition of the Laplace transform [3b#] [6b#] [2#] [1a#] [2c#] [4a#] [3#]
problem involving the linearity or other properties of the Laplace transform [5b#] [5b#] [5d#] [5e#] [6#] [7c#] [2#] [3a#] [1b#] [2#] [5#] [4b#] [6#] [7#]
problem using laplace transforms to solve a differential equation [2a#] [2b#] [2a#] [2b#] [3a#] [5b#] [6c#] [7#] [1#] [3b#] [2a#] [2b#] [7#] [2#] [5#] [7c#] [2#] [4c#] [6b#] [6c#] [7c#] [6#] [7#]
problem using laplace transforms to solve a differential equation with discontinuous (step function) or impulse (delta function) forcing [5c#] [6b#] [2c#]

All Exam 2's, with their medians:

Fall, 2012 Exam Solutions 74 Winter, 2013 Exam Solutions 80
  Fall, 2016 Exam Solutions 54
  Winter, 2017 Exam Solutions 56
  Fall, 2017 Exam Solutions 58
  Winter, 2018 Exam Solutions 63
  Fall, 2018 Exam Solutions 58
  Winter, 2019 Exam Solutions 60
  Fall, 2019 Exam Solutions 68
  Fall, 2021 Exam Solutions 48

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