CMSC 250 - Discrete Structures



Class:

Discussions (MW):

Welcome to CMSC 250. This course covers fundamental mathematical concepts related to computer science, including propositional logic, first-order logic, methods of proof, elementary number theory (including sequences, and induction), set theory with finite and infinite sets, functions, relations, introductory counting and probability theory, and an introduction to graph theory. Emphasis will be on mathematical rigor and the development of sound and elegant formal proofs.

Schedule

Exam Dates:


  • Midterm #1: Tuesday, October 4th, in Lecture.
  • Midterm #2: Tuesday, November 8th, in Lecture.
  • Final Exam: Friday, December 16th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM,
    Location / Sections
    ARC 0204 / 0201, 0202, 0203, 0204
    TWS 1107 / 0205
    TWS 1100 / 0206
    ESJ 2204 / 0207, 0208

Lectures (Tentative)


Week Starting
Tuesday
Thursday
08/29 Course Intro

Introduction to the course;

Reading: Chapter 1 Rosen or Chapter 2 Susanna Epp
Logical equivalencies; conditional and biconditional connectives;

Reading: Chapter 1 Rosen or Chapter 2 Susanna Epp
09/05 Rules of Inference

Reading: Rosen 1.6 or Chapter 2 Susanna Epp
Digital Circuits

Reading: Rosen 1.2 or Susanna Epp 2.4
09/12 Digital Circuits Wrap -up / Predicate logic

Reading: Rosen: 1.4 or Susanna Epp chapter 3
Predicate Logic (Contd.);

Reading: Rosen: 1.4 or Susanna Epp chapter 3
09/19 Rules of Inference for Quantifiers /
Methods of Proofs I

Reading: Rosen: 1.7 / 1.8 or Susanna Epp chapter 3 / 4.1
Methods of Proofs II

Reading: Rosen 1.7 / 1.8 or Susanna Epp chapter 4
09/26 Methods of Proofs III

Reading: Rosen 1.8 or Susanna Epp chapter 4
Midterm Review
10/03 Midterm I Applying Universal Generalization /

Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic

Reading: Rosen ch. 4 or Susanna Epp chapter 4
10/10 Modular Congruence,
Modular Arithmetic Theorem ,
floor and ceiling
sequences, summations, and products
10/17 Introduction to induction; induction proofs with congruences; induction proofs with summations Induction with inequalities, recurrences, etc.; Introduction to strong induction.
10/24 More examples of strong induction. Constructive induction / Introduction to set theory
10/31 Guest Lecture
(Erin Molloy)
Midterm II Review
11/07 Midterm II Proving subset relationships; Proving set equality; Properties of sets; Venn diagrams for finding counterexamples;
11/14 Proofs with powersets; Intro to Combinatorics (Multiplication rule, permutations) r-permutations; probability
11/21 Counting techniques Contd.: permutations, combinations, tuples, multi-sets, etc. Thanksgiving break (no class)
11/28 Functions / Pigeon hole principle Cardinality

Staff

Instructor: Mohammad Nayeem Teli (nayeem at cs.umd.edu)

Office: IRB 1128
Office Hours: Th 4:45 PM - 5:30 PM, IRB 1128


Teaching Assistants


Name Email Discussion Lead
Emily Mae Kaplitz ekaplitz at umd.edu 205 & 206, CSI 3120
Haozhe An haozhe at umd.edu 202, CSI 1121
Zuzanna Aleksandra Rutkowska zuzannar at umd.edu 204, CSI 1122
Yue Feng yuefeng at umd.edu 207, CSI 3118
Daeun Jung daeunj at umd.edu 208, CSI 2107
Botao He botao at umd.edu 201, CSI 3120
Talha Muhib tmuhib at terpmail.umd.edu 203, CSI 1121


Office Hours

Instructor: Th 4:45 PM - 5:30 PM, IRB 1128

Teaching Assistants

Day
Office hours (IRB 1266 Open Area)
Monday Botao: 09:00 - 11:00 AM
Talha: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Botao: 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday Haozhe: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM,
Emily: 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Wednesday Yue: 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM,
Talha: 10:00 - 11:00 AM,
Zuzanna: 1:00 - 2:00 PM,
Haozhe: 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Thursday Daeun: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM,
Zuzanna: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM,
Zuzanna: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Friday Daeun: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM,
Emily: 2:00 - 4:00 PM

Please note that a TA may need to leave 5 minutes before the end of the hour in order to go to his/her class. Please be understanding of their schedules.

Class Resources

Handouts


Online Course Tools
  • ELMS - This is where you go to see grades on assignments and to get your class account information.
  • Gradescope - This is where you submit yout homeworks and receive feedback.


Assignments (on ELMS)

Homework Due Date*
Homework 1 Thursday Sep. 15, 2022
Homework 2 Friday September 23, 2022
Homework 3 Friday Oct. 14, 2022
Homework 4 Saturday Oct. 22, 2022
Homework 5 Saturday Oct. 29, 2022
Homework 6 Friday Nov. 04, 2022
Homework 7 Tuesday Nov. 22, 2022
Homework 8 Saturday Dec. 03, 2022

*All homeworks/assignments are due at 11:59 PM on the due date.