More last minute thoughts on the exam

UPDATE: I made corrections & additions to the HW3 solutions today, might be worth a last-minute check.

So I've actually made it now, and I think you will be fine. I am going to do the problems again myself just to be sure the timing is somewhat reasonable. A few of random thoughts:

• As promised, the exam has 4 problems, you can solve any 2.
  
• There are no terrible integrals involved. Just polynomials and so forth, no weird arctans or anything.
• For most of the problems, there are at least two straightforward methods of attack. This is on purpose, with the hope that you'll see one of them quickly.
• Two problems will favor those of you that remember the basics of mechanics, two problems will favor those of you that like the math.
• The binomial approximation is just about the coolest thing ever. Know when you can get away with it.
• There are no numbers on the exam (except things like pi and 2, possibly a 3). A calculator is not useful unless it happens to do symbolic math.
• It is fine with me if you bring an complex calculator that does symbolic math. The basic rules are no pc's, no cellphone calculators, no PDAs that have wireless communication capabilities.

Anyway: if you've been able to follow the homework so far, the exam problems will seem almost laughably easy. The only real issue is time pressure: you get about 20 minutes per problem, so

• Use your time wisely, and watch the clock.
• Don't get stuck on anything - if you find yourself stuck, see if you can make a simplifying assumption to move on (this might entail some lost points, but many less than not finishing the problem at all), or pick another problem
• In spite of the time pressure, spend a few minutes reading and thinking about all the problems before starting. Make sure you really know what is being asked, and have a physical picture in your mind before moving on. If you can't at least see the 'flavor' of the answer, math is probably not going to help.
• Please, please make sure you read the problems you choose to answer a second time, there are multiple parts to some of the problems.
  

I'll be up another couple of hours if you have questions.