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Multivariable Calculus 2: Integrals

We live in a multivariable world. Explore different types of integrals and learn how to apply them to solve real world problems. Part 2 of 3.

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Format: Self-Paced
Estimated: 15 weeks, 6 hrs/wk
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About this Course

Variables are all around us: temperature, altitude, location, profit, color, and countless others. Multivariable Calculus is the tool of choice to shed light on complex relationships between 2, 3, or hundreds of variables simultaneously. Some of the multivariable questions considered in this course include:

  • How can one quantify the efficiency of a power plant?
  • How much snow can a roof safely hold?
  • Over the next 100 years, how high will continually melting icebergs raise sea levels?

The key tool for answering each of these questions is multivariable integration.

In this course, you will learn how to set up, solve, and interpret many types of multivariable integrals:

  • double integrals of scalar functions in any coordinate system,
  • line integrals of scalar and vector-valued functions, and
  • triple integrals in cartesian, cylindrical, and spherical coordinates.

Physical applications will be highlighted, including the use of integrals to compute the work done by a force field, or the flux caused by a velocity field.

Finally, you will learn powerful tools for simplifying integral computations, including the Fundamental Theorem of Line Integrals and Green’s Theorem.

Multivariable Calculus is a series of the following two available modules:

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What you'll learn

  • How to compute double and triple integrals in different coordinates systems.
  • How to compute flux through curves, and work along a curve.
  • How to use integrals to solve word problems in the real-world.
  • How to relate different types of integrals using the Fundamental Theorem of Line Integrals and Green’s Theorem.

Prerequisites

Meet your instructors

Lawrence Guth

Claude Shannon Professor of Mathematics MacVicar Faculty Fellow

Larry Guth is a Professor of Mathematics at MIT. He received the Bocher prize from the American Mathematical Society and the Maryam Mirzakhani prize from the National Academy of Science. He works on problems in geometry related to isoperimetric inequalities and problems in Fourier analysis. He taught 18.02 four times between 2017 and 2020.

Areas of expertise: Metric geometry, harmonic analysis, extremal combinatorics