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• See if an existing question helps you.

  Check and see if someone has already asked a question that gives you the information you need. The search box at the top right corner of the page will be pretty useful here, but you can also try looking at tags that are relevant to your question.

  If you find a prior question that seems relevant but doesn’t clear up your confusion, mention it when you write your own question. That gives the people answering a better idea of what kinds of explanations don’t work for you, and what might be more effective.

• Show your work and ask about the specific concept that gives you trouble.

  We expect you to narrow down the problem to the particular concept that’s giving you trouble and ask about that specifically. That produces a question that is more relevant to others who might be having the same problem, as well as probably more interesting to answer. As a side effect it shows that you’re not just being lazy and trying to get us to do your work for you.

  The best way to produce a focused, specific question is to show your work. Explain what you’ve been able to figure out so far and how you did it. Showing your work will help us gauge where you are having problems: if it is a technical thing near the end, a short to the point answer will suffice; if it is some fundamental problem with understanding the subject, somebody will then write a longer, more detailed response. It will also prevent people from spending a lot of time going over ground that you have already covered or understand well already. Something like “I already tried X, but it didn’t work”, is a good addition to a homework post.

  It’s not enough to just show your work and ask where you went wrong. If you just need someone to check your work, you can always seek out a friend, classmate, or teacher. As a rule of thumb, a good conceptual question should be useful even to someone who isn’t looking at the same problem you happen to be working on. Of course, it’s still good to include the text of your problem, just in case (more on that a few paragraphs down).

  Don’t just copy the exact problem from your homework assignment or textbook. In particular, when you are asking for help, writing in imperative mode (“Show that …”, “Compute …”, or “Prove or find a counterexample: …”) is at the very least impolite: you are, after all, trying to ask a question, not give an assignment. It also turns many people off.

  Write your question in the Body box. Your question should be clear even without the title. (Especially, do not write your whole question in the title and then put “title says it all” in the body.)

  Write your question out in full; do not post a picture of the question or your handwritten notes. If you really need a picture in your question (e.g. a diagram), make sure that the picture is clear and rotated correctly and has a reasonable size.

• Write a descriptive title.

  The title should indicate the topic of the question in such a way as to distinguish it from other questions, without going into unnecessary detail (e.g. do not write “Organic chemistry question” but also do not try to put the entire homework problem into the title). Do not use a clickbait title.

• Reference the source.

  If you’re asking about a specific homework problem from a textbook, include the book and the problem number, so that someone trying to answer the question can go look it up themselves if they need to. If you’re asking about a specific problem from a custom assignment prepared by the instructor, it helps if you quote the complete text of the problem in your post. Again, this shouldn’t be the entire content of the post – you still need to ask about the specific issue that’s confusing you, in addition to quoting the problem – but you never know when the person answering might need additional information from the original problem.

• See if an existing question helps you.

  Check and see if someone has already asked a question that gives you the information you need. The search box at the top right corner of the page will be pretty useful here, but you can also try looking at tags that are relevant to your question.

  If you find a prior question that seems relevant but doesn’t clear up your confusion, mention it when you write your own question. That gives the people answering a better idea of what kinds of explanations don’t work for you, and what might be more effective.

• Show your work and ask about the specific concept that gives you trouble.

  We expect you to narrow down the problem to the particular concept that’s giving you trouble and ask about that specifically. That produces a question that is more relevant to others who might be having the same problem, as well as probably more interesting to answer. As a side effect it shows that you’re not just being lazy and trying to get us to do your work for you.

  The best way to produce a focused, specific question is to show your work. Explain what you’ve been able to figure out so far and how you did it. Showing your work will help us gauge where you are having problems: if it is a technical thing near the end, a short to the point answer will suffice; if it is some fundamental problem with understanding the subject, somebody will then write a longer, more detailed response. It will also prevent people from spending a lot of time going over ground that you have already covered or understand well already. Something like “I already tried X, but it didn’t work”, is a good addition to a homework post.

  It’s not enough to just show your work and ask where you went wrong. If you just need someone to check your work, you can always seek out a friend, classmate, or teacher. As a rule of thumb, a good conceptual question should be useful even to someone who isn’t looking at the same problem you happen to be working on. Of course, it’s still good to include the text of your problem, just in case (more on that a few paragraphs down).

  Don’t just copy the exact problem from your homework assignment or textbook. In particular, when you are asking for help, writing in imperative mode (“Show that …”, “Compute …”, or “Prove or find a counterexample: …”) is at the very least impolite: you are, after all, trying to ask a question, not give an assignment. It also turns many people off.

• Write down your question.

  Write your question in the Body box. Your question should be clear even without the title. (Especially, do not write your whole question in the title and then put “title says it all” in the body.)

  Write your question out in full; do not post a picture of the question or your handwritten notes. If you really need a picture in your question (e.g. a diagram), make sure that the picture is clear and rotated correctly and has a reasonable size.

• Write a descriptive title.

  The title should indicate the topic of the question in such a way as to distinguish it from other questions, without going into unnecessary detail (e.g. do not write “Organic chemistry question” but also do not try to put the entire homework problem into the title). Do not use a clickbait title.

• Reference the source.

  If you’re asking about a specific homework problem from a textbook, include the book and the problem number, so that someone trying to answer the question can go look it up themselves if they need to. If you’re asking about a specific problem from a custom assignment prepared by the instructor, it helps if you quote the complete text of the problem in your post. Again, this shouldn’t be the entire content of the post – you still need to ask about the specific issue that’s confusing you, in addition to quoting the problem – but you never know when the person answering might need additional information from the original problem.

• See if an existing question helps you.

  Check and see if someone has already asked a question that gives you the information you need. The search box at the top right corner of the page will be pretty useful here, but you can also try looking at tags that are relevant to your question.

  If you find a prior question that seems relevant but doesn’t clear up your confusion, mention it when you write your own question. That gives the people answering a better idea of what kinds of explanations don’t work for you, and what might be more effective.

• Show your work and ask about the specific concept that gives you trouble.

  We expect you to narrow down the problem to the particular concept that’s giving you trouble and ask about that specifically. That produces a question that is more relevant to others who might be having the same problem, as well as probably more interesting to answer. As a side effect it shows that you’re not just being lazy and trying to get us to do your work for you.

  The best way to produce a focused, specific question is to show your work. Explain what you’ve been able to figure out so far and how you did it. Showing your work will help us gauge where you are having problems: if it is a technical thing near the end, a short to the point answer will suffice; if it is some fundamental problem with understanding the subject, somebody will then write a longer, more detailed response. It will also prevent people from spending a lot of time going over ground that you have already covered or understand well already. Something like “I already tried X, but it didn’t work”, is a good addition to a homework post.

  It’s not enough to just show your work and ask where you went wrong. If you just need someone to check your work, you can always seek out a friend, classmate, or teacher. As a rule of thumb, a good conceptual question should be useful even to someone who isn’t looking at the same problem you happen to be working on. Of course, it’s still good to include the text of your problem, just in case (more on that a few paragraphs down).

  Don’t just copy the exact problem from your homework assignment or textbook. In particular, when you are asking for help, writing in imperative mode (“Show that …”, “Compute …”, or “Prove or find a counterexample: …”) is at the very least impolite: you are, after all, trying to ask a question, not give an assignment. It also turns many people off.

  Write your question in the Body box. Your question should be clear even without the title. (Especially, do not write your whole question in the title and then put “title says it all” in the body.)

  Write your question out in full; do not post a picture of the question. If you really need a picture in your question (e.g. a diagram), make sure that the picture is clear and rotated correctly and has a reasonable size.

• Write a descriptive title.

  The title should indicate the topic of the question in such a way as to distinguish it from other questions, without going into unnecessary detail (e.g. do not write “Organic chemistry question” but also do not try to put the entire homework problem into the title). Do not use a clickbait title.

• Reference the source.

  If you’re asking about a specific homework problem from a textbook, include the book and the problem number, so that someone trying to answer the question can go look it up themselves if they need to. If you’re asking about a specific problem from a custom assignment prepared by the instructor, it helps if you quote the complete text of the problem in your post. Again, this shouldn’t be the entire content of the post – you still need to ask about the specific issue that’s confusing you, in addition to quoting the problem – but you never know when the person answering might need additional information from the original problem.

• See if an existing question helps you.

  Check and see if someone has already asked a question that gives you the information you need. The search box at the top right corner of the page will be pretty useful here, but you can also try looking at tags that are relevant to your question.

  If you find a prior question that seems relevant but doesn’t clear up your confusion, mention it when you write your own question. That gives the people answering a better idea of what kinds of explanations don’t work for you, and what might be more effective.

• Show your work and ask about the specific concept that gives you trouble.

  We expect you to narrow down the problem to the particular concept that’s giving you trouble and ask about that specifically. That produces a question that is more relevant to others who might be having the same problem, as well as probably more interesting to answer. As a side effect it shows that you’re not just being lazy and trying to get us to do your work for you.

  The best way to produce a focused, specific question is to show your work. Explain what you’ve been able to figure out so far and how you did it. Showing your work will help us gauge where you are having problems: if it is a technical thing near the end, a short to the point answer will suffice; if it is some fundamental problem with understanding the subject, somebody will then write a longer, more detailed response. It will also prevent people from spending a lot of time going over ground that you have already covered or understand well already. Something like “I already tried X, but it didn’t work”, is a good addition to a homework post.

  It’s not enough to just show your work and ask where you went wrong. If you just need someone to check your work, you can always seek out a friend, classmate, or teacher. As a rule of thumb, a good conceptual question should be useful even to someone who isn’t looking at the same problem you happen to be working on. Of course, it’s still good to include the text of your problem, just in case (more on that a few paragraphs down).

  Don’t just copy the exact problem from your homework assignment or textbook. In particular, when you are asking for help, writing in imperative mode (“Show that …”, “Compute …”, or “Prove or find a counterexample: …”) is at the very least impolite: you are, after all, trying to ask a question, not give an assignment. It also turns many people off.

  Write your question in the Body box. Your question should be clear even without the title. (Especially, do not write your whole question in the title and then put “title says it all” in the body.)

  Write your question out in full; do not post a picture of the question or your handwritten notes. If you really need a picture in your question (e.g. a diagram), make sure that the picture is clear and rotated correctly and has a reasonable size.

• Write a descriptive title.

  The title should indicate the topic of the question in such a way as to distinguish it from other questions, without going into unnecessary detail (e.g. do not write “Organic chemistry question” but also do not try to put the entire homework problem into the title). Do not use a clickbait title.

• Reference the source.

  If you’re asking about a specific homework problem from a textbook, include the book and the problem number, so that someone trying to answer the question can go look it up themselves if they need to. If you’re asking about a specific problem from a custom assignment prepared by the instructor, it helps if you quote the complete text of the problem in your post. Again, this shouldn’t be the entire content of the post – you still need to ask about the specific issue that’s confusing you, in addition to quoting the problem – but you never know when the person answering might need additional information from the original problem.

A “homework question” is any question whose value lies in helping you understand the method by which the question can be solved, rather than getting the answer itself. This includes not just questions from actual homework assignments, but also self-study problems, puzzles, etc.

• See if an existing question helps you.

  Check and see if someone has already asked a question that gives you the information you need. The search box at the top right corner of the page will be pretty useful here, but you can also try looking at tags that are relevant to your question.

  If you find a prior question that seems relevant but doesn’t clear up your confusion, mention it when you write your own question. That gives the people answering a better idea of what kinds of explanations don’t work for you, and what might be more effective.

• Ask about the specific concept that gives you trouble.

  We expect you to narrow down the problem to the particular concept that’s giving you trouble and ask about that specifically. That produces a question that is more relevant to others who might be having the same problem, as well as probably more interesting to answer. As a side effect it shows that you’re not just being lazy and trying to get us to do your work for you.

  The best way to produce a focused, specific question is to show your work. Explain what you’ve been able to figure out so far and how you did it. Showing your work will help us gauge where you are having problems: if it is a technical thing near the end, a short to the point answer will suffice; if it is some fundamental problem with understanding the subject, somebody will then write a longer, more detailed response. It will also prevent people from spending a lot of time going over ground that you have already covered or understand well already. Something like “I already tried X, but it didn’t work”, is a good addition to a homework post.

  It’s not enough to just show your work and ask where you went wrong. If you just need someone to check your work, you can always seek out a friend, classmate, or teacher. As a rule of thumb, a good conceptual question should be useful even to someone who isn’t looking at the problem you happen to be working on. Of course, it’s still good to include the text of your problem, just in case (more on that a few paragraphs down).

  Don’t just copy the exact problem from your homework assignment or textbook. In particular, when you are asking for help, writing in imperative mode (“Show that …”, “Compute …”, or “Prove or find a counterexample: …”) is at the very least impolite: you are, after all, trying to ask a question, not give an assignment. It also turns many people off.

  Write your question in the Body box. Your question should be clear even without the title. (Especially, do not write your whole question in the title and then put “title says it all” in the body.)

  Write your question out in full; do not post a picture of the question. If you really need a picture in your question (e.g. a diagram), make sure that the picture is clear and rotated correctly and has a reasonable size.

  Write a descriptive title. The title should indicate the topic of the question in such a way as to distinguish it from other questions, without going into unnecessary detail. Do not use a clickbait title.

• Reference the source.

  If you’re asking about a specific homework problem from a textbook, include the book and the problem number, so that someone trying to answer the question can go look it up themselves if they need to. If you’re asking about a specific problem from a custom assignment prepared by the instructor, it helps if you quote the complete text of the problem in your post. Again, this shouldn’t be the entire content of the post – you still need to ask about the specific issue that’s confusing you, in addition to quoting the problem – but you never know when the person answering might need additional information from the original problem.

A “homework question” is any question whose value lies in helping you understand the method by which the question can be solved, rather than getting the answer itself. This includes not just questions from actual homework assignments, but also self-study problems, puzzles, etc.

• See if an existing question helps you.

  Check and see if someone has already asked a question that gives you the information you need. The search box at the top right corner of the page will be pretty useful here, but you can also try looking at tags that are relevant to your question.

  If you find a prior question that seems relevant but doesn’t clear up your confusion, mention it when you write your own question. That gives the people answering a better idea of what kinds of explanations don’t work for you, and what might be more effective.

• Show your work and ask about the specific concept that gives you trouble.

  We expect you to narrow down the problem to the particular concept that’s giving you trouble and ask about that specifically. That produces a question that is more relevant to others who might be having the same problem, as well as probably more interesting to answer. As a side effect it shows that you’re not just being lazy and trying to get us to do your work for you.

  The best way to produce a focused, specific question is to show your work. Explain what you’ve been able to figure out so far and how you did it. Showing your work will help us gauge where you are having problems: if it is a technical thing near the end, a short to the point answer will suffice; if it is some fundamental problem with understanding the subject, somebody will then write a longer, more detailed response. It will also prevent people from spending a lot of time going over ground that you have already covered or understand well already. Something like “I already tried X, but it didn’t work”, is a good addition to a homework post.

  It’s not enough to just show your work and ask where you went wrong. If you just need someone to check your work, you can always seek out a friend, classmate, or teacher. As a rule of thumb, a good conceptual question should be useful even to someone who isn’t looking at the same problem you happen to be working on. Of course, it’s still good to include the text of your problem, just in case (more on that a few paragraphs down).

  Don’t just copy the exact problem from your homework assignment or textbook. In particular, when you are asking for help, writing in imperative mode (“Show that …”, “Compute …”, or “Prove or find a counterexample: …”) is at the very least impolite: you are, after all, trying to ask a question, not give an assignment. It also turns many people off.

  Write your question in the Body box. Your question should be clear even without the title. (Especially, do not write your whole question in the title and then put “title says it all” in the body.)

  Write your question out in full; do not post a picture of the question. If you really need a picture in your question (e.g. a diagram), make sure that the picture is clear and rotated correctly and has a reasonable size.

   

• Write a descriptive title.

  The title should indicate the topic of the question in such a way as to distinguish it from other questions, without going into unnecessary detail (e.g. do not write “Organic chemistry question” but also do not try to put the entire homework problem into the title). Do not use a clickbait title.

• Reference the source.

  If you’re asking about a specific homework problem from a textbook, include the book and the problem number, so that someone trying to answer the question can go look it up themselves if they need to. If you’re asking about a specific problem from a custom assignment prepared by the instructor, it helps if you quote the complete text of the problem in your post. Again, this shouldn’t be the entire content of the post – you still need to ask about the specific issue that’s confusing you, in addition to quoting the problem – but you never know when the person answering might need additional information from the original problem.