CMSC 441, Section 0201, Spring 1996

Frequently Asked Questions

Names have been withheld to protect the innocent. Some submissions have been edited for grammar and spelling.

Question:

How much work are we required to show for the homework problems?

Answer:

For Homework 1, don't bother showing "work" for the first two problems. For the third problem, though, you do have to show a complete proof. I have written up some examples of "complete proofs" that you may use as a guideline.

Question:

Will you hand out solutions for Homework 1 after Thursday? I found it really difficult to prove or disprove the statements. Will this be an important part in the exams?

Answer:

After the beginning of class on Tuesday (after which late homeworks will not be accepted), I am willing to spend some class time going over solutions. My experience is that writing up solutions and handing them out doesn't really help the students. There are two reasons for this. First, people tend to put away the handouts and not read them until the exam. Second, what you really want to know is not what the correct answer is, but how you go about finding the correct answer.

Yes, I do expect you to be able to prove statements during an exam.

Question:

For Problem 1-1, on page 17, suppose that n log n = 10^6, how does one evaluate this equation to obtain a value for n?

Answer:

Guess. Use trial and error with a calculator and narrow down to the nearest integer.