Reminder that the midterm will be on Wednesday October 24.
It is a closed book exam, but you are allowed to prepare
a single (two-sided, 8"x11") sheet of notes.
WRITE ANY THING ON IT, IN ANY SIZE WRITING.
Hint: you may keep this sheet for the final exam,
when you will be allowed two such sheets!
Sample midterm exams from the
Fall of 1997. The text book was
the older version of our current text book.
NOTE: these samples are mainly to show you the
style of questions to expect.
The coverage of topics are probably different,
and even when they are the same (e.g., recurrences), I may
have emphasized different aspects of the topic.
Studying for exam: what we emphasize in class and homeworks
will be a very indication of what we think you should
know.
When giving an answer, you can cite and use any result you know
is true (unless we tell you to prove the result from
first principles, etc).
Remember: we like to give partial credits. So it is almost
always better to write something than not to say anything.
In a multi-part question, you can always assume the
answer from the earlier parts, even if you cannot prove
those earlier parts.
Whenever possible, sketch out an answer on your rough paper
before writing down the answer. Keep the rough paper
which you should hand in with the rest of your answers.
If you have MORE time, try to rewrite an answer clearly.
You never know what new insights you might get!
Some random collection of useful facts (I will add them as they arise):
When you apply the Master Theorem in case (+)
(driving function is growing faster than the watershed
function), be sure to check the regularity condition.
Useful basic facts about probability: Markov inquality,
geometric distribution (see hints to hw3), sum of
expectation equals expectation of sum, expectation
of the product of two independent r.v.s is equal to the
product of the expectations of their product.