Introduction to Mathematical Economics
Resources for Introduction to Mathematical Economics - for more information about the course, please see course outlines.
Note: The name of this course changed in 2020. It used to be called "Introduction to Mathematical Economics (Basic)", so most of the old seminars mention this course name. However, the course content is the same.
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Maths notation
The MLC gave a seminar in 2013 about maths notation, which ought to be helpful for revising or learning maths notation. Video and handouts are at the following page.
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Calculations and algebra
In this course you learn about calculating with numbers, fractions and algebra. The MLC gave seminars on these topics in 2015, and all the videos are collected on the following webpage.
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Functions
In this course, it is important to know what shape various functions are, simply from looking at their formulas. The following mini-textbooks are about various types of functions and contain explanations and practice exercises.
- Numbers and functions (PDF notes)
- Linear functions (PDF notes)
- Quadratic functions (PDF notes)
- Rational functions (PDF notes)
- Exponential functions (PDF notes)
- Logarithmic functions (PDF notes)
- Polynomial functions (PDF notes)
This revision seminar was given to students in a different course called Intro to Financial maths, and it began with a section on quadratic functions, including the various forms to write them and how to find solutions.
- Revision seminar section: Quadratic functions, Sem 1 2021 (YouTube)
- Revision seminar section: Quadratic functions, Sem 1 2021 (Echo360)
The following lecture was given for students in the MathTrack bridging course, and it gives a lot of information about how polynomial functions work.
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Differentiation
In Semester 1 2014, David gave a revision seminar on differentiation. David discussed functions, differentiation, partial differentiation and lagrange multipliers.
- Revision seminar: Differentiation, Sem 1 2014 (YouTube)
- Revision seminar: Differentiation, Sem 1 2014 (Echo360)
In Semester 1 2021, David gave a revision seminar about differentiation and using it to find maximums of both one-variable functions and several-variable functions.
- Revision seminar: Differentiation and maximisation, Sem 1 2021 (YouTube)
- Revision seminar: Differentiation and maximisation, Sem 1 2021 (Echo360)
In Semester 1 2022, David gave a revision seminar about differentiation, partial differentiation, and constrained and unconstrained optimisation of two-variable functions.
- Revision seminar video Sem 1 2022 (YouTube)
- Revision seminar video Sem 1 2022 (Echo350)
- Revision seminar notes Sem 1 2022 (PDF)
In Semester 1 2023, David gave a revision seminar discussing various things to do with multivariable calculus, including marginal rate of substitution, second order partial derivatives and constrained optimisation.
- Revision seminar video Sem 1 2023 (YouTube)
- Revision seminar video Sem 1 2023 (Echo360)
- Revision seminar notes Sem 1 2023 (PDF)
The following resources were created for the MLC bridging course MathsTrack, and might be helpful for understanding derivatives and maximisation of one-variable functions. (Some of the presentation might be quite different than in your course though.)
- Differentiation mini-textbook
- Differentiation lecture Part A: definitions and rules (YouTube)
- Differentiation lecture Part A: definitions and rules (Echo360)
- Desmos graph used in differentiation lecture part A
- Differentiation lecture Part B: tangents (YouTube)
- Differentiation lecture Part B: tangents (Echo360)
- Applications of Differentiation mini-textbook
- Applications of Differentiation lecture Part A: features of graphs (YouTube)
- Applications of Differentiation lecture Part A: features of graphs (Echo360)
- Desmos graph used in applications of differentiation lecture part A
- Applications of Differentiation lecture Part B: graph sketching examples (YouTube)
- Applications of Differentiation lecture Part B: graph sketching examples (Echo360)
- Applications of Differentiation lecture Part C: optimisation problems (YouTube)
- Applications of Differentiation lecture Part C: optimisation problems (Echo360)
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Revision seminars in order of time
Over the years, the MLC has given several revision seminars to students in this course where requests were taken from the students for what to talk about. They are listed here with the newest seminars at the top.
2023
Various things to do with multivariable calculus, including marginal rate of substitution, second order partial derivatives and constrained optimisation.
- Revision seminar video Sem 1 2023 (YouTube)
- Revision seminar video Sem 1 2023 (Echo360)
- Revision seminar notes Sem 1 2023 (PDF)
2022
Derivatives and partial derivatives, and examples of constrained and unconstrained optimisation of two-variable functions.
- Revision seminar video Sem 1 2022 (YouTube)
- Revision seminar video Sem 1 2022 (Echo350)
- Revision seminar notes Sem 1 2022 (PDF)
2021
Full and partial derivatives and maximisation, including for one-varaiable functions and multiple-variable functions.
2020
Two examples of using Lagrange multipliers and one of solving simultaneous equations..
2019
Partial derivatives and unconstrained optimisation, as well as demand functions.
2015
The chain rule, derivatives of roots, simplifying algebraic fractions, concave and convex, solving inequalities, optimisation of 3D functions, and Lagrange multipliers.
2014
Functions, differentiation, partial differentiation and lagrange multipliers