As of May 31, 2023, we have updated our Code of Conduct.

Questions tagged [discussion]

The question you're asking is designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus.

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12 votes
4 answers
176 views

Should we allow data questions?

Should we allow questions of the form "what's the <numerical value> of <compound>"? Eg: Is the specific heat ...
ManishEarth's user avatar
  • 15.1k
11 votes
0 answers
183 views

Moderator Pro-Tem Announcement

Throughout the beta, we need members from the site whose focus is to engage the community, both in community-building issues and site management. That's why we select a few members from each community ...
Aarthi's user avatar
  • 101
11 votes
3 answers
317 views

How do we promote our shiny new site?

One of The 7 Essential Meta Questions of Every Beta. How do we promote our site? How to reach out to the experts and other potential users? At this stage in the site's development, we're not talking ...
F'x's user avatar
  • 23.5k
4 votes
2 answers
152 views

How should we approach questions asking for chemical hygiene or safety/medical advice?

Is the smell coming out from a portable dehumidifier safe? and to a lesser extent Blue Silica Gel more harmful than the orange ones? are two recent questions that ask for advice on the toxicity (or ...
jonsca's user avatar
  • 2,937
8 votes
2 answers
140 views

Observation: Chemistry is getting some nice "expanded answers"!

Twice recently I've put in short answers for which much more detailed answers subsequently were added in. (@F'x, you were one of them, though likely you were planning your answer as I was writing mine....
Terry Bollinger's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
132 views

Should we allow books questions?

We had our first books question today: https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/404/books-on-chemistry Now that one in particular is slightly too broad and gets a CV(yes, I chose the wrong ...
ManishEarth's user avatar
  • 15.1k
11 votes
5 answers
445 views

Who should our beta moderators be? [closed]

Chemistry StackExchange has been in public beta for a week now, and soon it will be time for us to get our first crop of moderators, as explained in the “Moderator Pro Tempore” blog post: About a ...
F'x's user avatar
  • 23.5k
26 votes
28 answers
4k views

Formatting Sandbox I: please *don't* test stuff here [duplicate]

This thread has been retired due to the large number of posts. The newest sandbox can be found here: Formatting Sandbox III: please test stuff here Before that, there was also this Sandbox: ...
9 votes
4 answers
161 views

Policy about downvoting "bad" questions of new members

Often new members that aren't part of another SE site ask "bad" questions that reflect that they haven't even taken the trouble to Google the topic they are concerned about. An example might be this ...
Philipp's user avatar
  • 17.6k
5 votes
1 answer
145 views

How should I respond to hunt-and-destroy tactics?

I seem to have picked up a new user who is demonstrating more interest in chat-style demolition than in adding constructive answers. Alas, he seems to be tracking me personally. I don't want to down-...
Terry Bollinger's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
166 views

On the quality of some accepted answers to some questions

I find myself very concerned that certain questions on this site have attracted wrong answers that have been marked as accepted. This and this and this in particular are answers that have been ...
Jiahao Chen's user avatar
  • 2,623
2 votes
2 answers
92 views

Artwork for the site

Different SE sites have site specific artwork (love the one on Gaming.SE).. So my question is who will make one for chem.SE ... the chem.SE users or someone from stack exchange??
Ashu's user avatar
  • 1,453
5 votes
1 answer
104 views

We're now in public beta - so are more basic questions ok now? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: What kind of subjects in chemistry are considered “too easy”? Congratulations to all, on getting the site out of private beta and into public beta. Is it now OK ...
410 gone's user avatar
  • 1,530
-3 votes
1 answer
45 views

Question where the users can add / append the answers to make a big list

Is it possible to have a question where the users can append the answer so that, we can have a big list on main site. For clarity sake, if we have a question on red-ox reagents, users can keep ...
Anil's user avatar
  • 355
21 votes
2 answers
1k views

How can I enable MathJax in chat?

Last updated: 9 May 2017 This is an offshoot of ChatJax, which enables MathJax along with mhchem on chat. In order to enable MathJax in chat, please follow the following instructions (courtesy of ...
ManishEarth's user avatar
  • 15.1k
130 votes
10 answers
20k views

FAQ: How can I format math/chemistry expressions on Chemistry Stack Exchange?

This FAQ explains and gives examples how to typeset chemical equations, quantities and units, and mathematical expressions on Chemistry Stack Exchange (rather than posting pictures, which you can't ...
1 vote
1 answer
42 views

Adding physics,mathematics and stackoverflow links in footer

It will me easy to access stackexchange science related sites like physics, mathematics and stackoverflow if we add links of the above sites to the footer of chemistry
Eka's user avatar
  • 2,680
6 votes
1 answer
59 views

Should chemistry-related forensics questions be allowed?

Often the field of forensics involves a good deal of chemistry—should we allow forensics-related questions on the site?
Tuesday's user avatar
  • 817
5 votes
1 answer
299 views

TeX tutorial too intimidating/extensive [duplicate]

The help sidebar ("How to format") links to http://www.math.harvard.edu/texman/ That's a bit too extensive for us. (And it's for LaTeX proper, not mathjax so it has tons of irrelevant stuff) Can we ...
ManishEarth's user avatar
  • 15.1k
-5 votes
1 answer
123 views

Synthesis questions--localized/not constructive

Today I realised that synthesis questions sort of fall short of a few standards. Don't get me wrong, I love these questions. Their answers can get pretty conceptual (when it comes,to interfering ...
ManishEarth's user avatar
  • 15.1k
7 votes
2 answers
313 views

Are [software] questions on topic?

Sparked by this question. Should software questions be on-topic? They aren't exactly expert-type questions. They're something which chemists know about, but unrelated to chemistry concepts. They can ...
ManishEarth's user avatar
  • 15.1k
4 votes
2 answers
177 views

Why aren't you asking more questions?

We're still in private beta, while the site should have gone public seven days after launch if everything went well. So we're not ready yet to leave the private beta, our very low number of questions ...
Mad Scientist's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
363 views

Mathjax formatting buttons for you!

After having to add dollar signs and format SI units countless times in the review section on Physics, I finally got fed up and wrote a script.{*} It basically adds buttons/keyboard shortcuts to ...
ManishEarth's user avatar
  • 15.1k
3 votes
3 answers
243 views

Question about sulfur - on topic or off topic?

There was a question this evening: "Is the sulfur from polishing silver with aluminum dangerous?" The question has been removed by the author, so I'll try to summarize: "I've polished silver by ...
Andrew's user avatar
  • 2,304
2 votes
1 answer
60 views

stereoisomerism and stereoisomers

Can we have stereoisomerism as the synonym of stereoisomers? In my opinion, stereoisomerism is a concept and stereoisomers are for the molecules. Most of the times the question will be on the ...
Anil's user avatar
  • 355
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

Should we standardize capitalization of elements and compounds?

For example, should we make sure all instances of "sulphur hexafluoride" are all lowercase, all first case ("Sulphur Hexafluoride"), or just leave it however the author wrote it?
Tuesday's user avatar
  • 817
4 votes
2 answers
135 views

Is finding a common denominator of expert-level and popular-sciene questions necessary and crucial for a healthy experimental science SE site?

Some stackexchange science proposals are getting closed soon. Often on those sites a discusson/conflict between experts/students/laymen arises, what type of questions are off-topic or drive away ...
Werner Schmitt's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
45 views

down-voting possible after the question is closed?

There are 2 questions on down-votng and closed questions. Is it POSSIBLE to down vote a question after the question is closed? Also, is it required that the question CAN be down voted after the ...
Anil's user avatar
  • 355
6 votes
1 answer
107 views

When is it appropriate to ask questions about Biochemistry and Chemical Biology?

Biology.SE has a similar discussion but it would be good to define it here. What types of biochemistry questions are suitable for Chemistry.SE and at what point does it become a question that should ...
bobthejoe's user avatar
  • 2,380
5 votes
3 answers
64 views

Tags for different kinds of NMR: are they necessary?

Do we need separate tags for NMR and proton NMR? Do we anticipate enough questions about 13C NMR for the two to merit separate labels?
Pat's user avatar
  • 1,050
7 votes
3 answers
351 views

What kind of subjects in chemistry are considered "too easy"?

Since we're in the Stack Exchange Beta, it's always stressed that easy questions should be avoided, in order to attract experts. I'm not entirely sure whether the questions I have fall into that ...
Zolani13's user avatar
  • 1,105
13 votes
2 answers
663 views

What's the policy on systems of measure?

Whilst the SI is very popular in chemistry (and in the world in general) there are a wide range of commonly used units in chemistry that are not SI or SI-derived (kcal, Bohr, Hartree, mmHg, enzyme ...
Richard Terrett's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
135 views

What should our FAQ contain?

Status: Pushed to faq I still need to pick examples of good posts (I may wait a bit for a bigger pool to choose from) Drawing from this blog post We ought to decide on a well-defined "what kind ...
ManishEarth's user avatar
  • 15.1k
7 votes
1 answer
94 views

Should we have acid-base and acido-basicity tags?

I am aware of the definitions of these words. but, honestly, we can expect few questions on these two tags. Hence can we have one as the synonym of the other, and retain acid-base tag?
Anil's user avatar
  • 355
16 votes
3 answers
357 views

Let's decide on a homework policy

Sooner or later, we're going to have to decide which types of "homework" questions we ought to allow. Note that "homework" is not limited to assignments, but rather any question which has the homework-...
ManishEarth's user avatar
  • 15.1k
5 votes
2 answers
82 views

Permissibility of various types of nomenclature questions?

I anticipate several classes of nomenclature questions may be posed, some of which may not be suitable for the site. I have listed them with my thoughts interposed. Simple 'name this molecule' type ...
Richard Terrett's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
67 views

Would questions on the history of chemistry be allowed?

Would a question on, say, the timeline of improvements to an analytical method, or which scientist discovered reaction Z first, be welcomed on this site?
user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
203 views

How should we handle questions on "energetic materials" and "bioactive compounds"?

My experience with various chemistry fora over the years has shown me that there will always be one misguided soul ("kewls" in the parlance of a certain prominent forum) asking about the red goo that ...
user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
46 views

Regarding editing the Tag Wikis excerpts [closed]

Does just editing the Tag Wiki excerpt count as a whole Tag Wiki edit that counts towards the Research Assistant badge? EDIT: In view of the answer below, I checked today, after two of my Tag Wiki ...
Bidella's user avatar
  • 189
4 votes
1 answer
40 views

What about having a tag on Oxidation-reduction

Red-ox reaction is quite a common reaction, which most branches of chemists will encounter. Hence what about having a tag on "Red-Ox" / "reduction-oxidation".
Anil's user avatar
  • 355
5 votes
3 answers
251 views

Standard for writing chemical formulae and chemical names

As we'll be seeing a lot of chemical formulae, and since mathjax is available, we should define a standard way of representing chemical formulae in our posts. I propose something like ...
CHM's user avatar
  • 2,608
8 votes
5 answers
687 views

Where does Physics.SE end and Chemistry.SE begin?

I just asked a question regarding how protons remain together in a nucleus despite their electromagnetic repulsion, but I just found that exact question already asked and answered on Physics.SE ...
Gordon Gustafson's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
76 views

Should we tag questions with elements they involve?

Many questions on Chemistry.SE will have to do with certain elements or molecules. In these situations, should the question be tagged with those names?
Tuesday's user avatar
  • 817
21 votes
4 answers
501 views

Which plugins for chemical formulas do we need?

Some Stack Exchange sites have site-specific extensions that allow them e.g. to typeset mathematical equations, create UI mockups or display Go board positions. Some support for creating and ...
Mad Scientist's user avatar

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