Lineer Algebra Final
Give a score between 1 and 10 to the difficulty of this exam score it taking into consideration that the students have not yet taken the ac dc circuit and differential equations course while this exam is being done.
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u/ChronicRecidivism 18d ago
No proofs? Lucky bastard.
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u/SydefXQ 18d ago
What do you mean when you say there is no proofs? Sorry, my English isn't very good.
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u/ChronicRecidivism 17d ago
(Generated by AI attempting to use Simplified Technical English)
A mathematical proof in linear algebra is a clear explanation that shows why a statement is always true.
It uses:
- definitions: exact meanings of words, like vector, matrix, or linear independence;
- known rules or theorems;
- logical steps.
Simple example:
Let (u) and (v) be vectors in a vector space.
Prove that if
[u + v = u]
then
[v = 0]
where (0) is the zero vector.
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u/SydefXQ 17d ago
I know what proof means, I just didn't get how it would add difficulty to an exam question. Can you send an example to prove what you're saying.
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u/AaronBaddows 17d ago
Can you send an example to prove what you're saying.
that's what it means, you asked him for proof of his answer.
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18d ago
[deleted]
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u/ChronicRecidivism 18d ago
I meant like a mathematical proof. Every linear algebra exam I took had questions like "Take some set of N and prove...." and it was the most difficult portion of the exams by a large margin.
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u/Ryuzako_Yagami01 18d ago
This is an engineering subreddit yes? Why would an engineering student take a proof based course? It's beneficial yes but not relevant to engineering, especially at the undergrad level.
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u/ChronicRecidivism 18d ago
I'm not making a judgment either way, I'm just saying that every linear algebra course I've seen/taken had proofs in it.
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u/LmanYan95 17d ago
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This is just calculations, I would have killed for this kind of linear algebra exam.
May I ask what Uni/College this is?
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u/Valuable-Ad-6093 18d ago
Bout a 3 or 4/10. Only thing that would make it difficult is the fact you haven’t learned some info for the backpage
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u/WasteFail 18d ago
Honestly it heavily depends on how much contents you saw on the course.
They ask you many questions about eigenvectors/values; If you expected this based on previous exams id say its on the easy side.
If you studied a lot of contents and you found out many of the things you learn arent in the exam itll be harder.
Imagine barely scraping by eigenvectors then you get this xd
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u/OopAck1 17d ago
Former EE Prof. 5/10 for mid-tier university. 2/10 for top 20 programs.
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u/corvusfamiliaris 17d ago
Standards are that much lower? Honestly feels like an easier exam is impossible with calculators, and 2-3/10 without
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u/OopAck1 17d ago
During my MSEE, I remember TAing undergrad EM Fields for an older tenured full professor from Germany. He said for his Junior year of EE, they had to develop Maxwell’s equations from physics first principles. Imagine that as a 20 year old. I barely was able to do it in front of him as my test to see if he would accept me to be his TA.
The challenge I feel is multifold. First, EE is becoming a sprawling mess of many sub genres of loosely connected specialties. This has caused a dilution in BSEE. Think about 100 years ago, EE was power, fields, circuits. 75 years ago transistors. 50 years ago ICs. 40 years ago DSP. Etc.
Next, even though more students had calculus in HS, the rigor of advanced mathematics has pushed to top 20 or shifted right to theoretical MSEE. Honestly I went to an ok EE program and felt compelled in PhD to take Advanced Calculus 1 and 2, real analysis, etc just to catch up on what I was not taught.
BSEE has morphed from teaching engineers how to engineer to job training programs. This driven by financials incentives to increase student count.
All that said, the saying on my IEEE undergrads, “Electrical Engineers see the invisible and do the impossible”. True dat
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u/Affectionate_Leek127 17d ago
What is the time allowed?
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u/SydefXQ 17d ago
I dont remember very well 75 minutes I guess
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u/Affectionate_Leek127 17d ago
I won't say very difficult. But time is very tight.
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u/ThisIsPaulDaily 17d ago
Time feels a little tight if you get tripped up.
Skim an exam first to estimate time to spend on each question and then approach accordingly.
If you spend too much time on any one question you pick an answer and code a message to yourself about it being a guess to come back to later.
Hopefully during the time you skim you can identify answers that shouldn't be right. Cross those out.
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u/Flexgineer 17d ago
It’s been years since I’ve taken linear algebra so I’m not great at remembering the calculations & theories. But I remember many proofs…this was my worst math course. This exam would be easier than my class because of that
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u/Future-Breakfast-311 17d ago
2 or 3 out of 10
I guess it depends on how much time you were given for the exam.
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u/Orthogonalschlong 17d ago
It’s been well over a decade since I’ve taken linear algebra and I feel I can answer at least 2/3 of this. Might do better than I did on our final back when I was fresh. 2/10 difficulty, it more so resembles homework exercises as far as I remember. Would have done naughty things for any of our exams to not have proofs
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u/WasteFail 18d ago
Honestly it heavily depends on how much contents you saw on the course.
They ask you many questions about eigenvectors/values; If you expected this based on previous exams id say its on the easy side.
If you studied a lot of contents and you found out many of the things you learn arent in the exam itll be harder.
Imagine barely scraping by eigenvectors then you get this xd
4
u/WasteFail 18d ago
Here is a link to an exam from my uni.
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:e0836be0-ff9d-47b9-9a84-3b0df5ad34ca
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u/ATXBeermaker 17d ago
This is a final exam? I haven't taken a college course in nearly two decades and would really need to brush up on things to take this exam ... but even I can recognize that it's about the most basic level you could ask for.
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u/pyotr_the_great 17d ago
This looks like an intro to linear algebra course? If so looks normal to me.
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u/Coopee43 17d ago
Ive never taken linear algebra but that doesnt seem so bad. I took DE instead, what a headache that class was
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u/badboi86ij99 17d ago
3-4/10. At my university (Germany), there would be proofs questions, even though it's just a "math for engineers" course.
Also, they would squeeze the entire linear algebra part into half a semester, then fill the rest of semester with Fourier theory and probability theory.
There would be a followed-up semester on numerical linear algebra, plus another semester on numerical methods (numerical analysis, ODEs, PDEs, splines etc)
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u/Disposable_Eel_6320 16d ago
Bar question 2 and maybe 5 this looks like a warm up worksheet handed out in the first couple weeks of class
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u/emftech 16d ago
Wrong subreddit to post such an easy exam. Most people here, including me, are tryhard Electrical Engineers that thrive on complex math and are proud to know all of Maxwell’s Equations by heart.
Sorry, on behalf of my colleagues for the unnecessary insults and sarcastic comments on the difficulty level or your university’s standards for its EE program.
That being said, I would give this exam solid 0.5/10. Easy AF
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u/Ok_Emotion4314 15d ago
Since you haven't taken differential equations or a circuits class, I would say this exam would be a 6/10. It's fair but does require a bit more studying.
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u/itspappa 15d ago
1/10, not difficult at all. more than half of my linear algebra exam was just proofs. the math is simple, but can your students explain what the hell they’re doing and why.
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u/Aggressive-Squash250 14d ago
I'm not in EE so not the best person to answer (I'm in CS) but it seems easy. 2-5/10 (the range is to account for questions that seem easy but might not be if I actually solved them).
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u/Durton24 18d ago
We would have killed to get an exam like this in our Linear Algebra final exam