The Periodic Table

Avnish Kabaj

00:45

@Mithoron exactly another 100 days

Gaurang Tandon

01:48

@M.A.R.ಠ_ಠ :/

@M.A.R.ಠ_ಠ absolutely

Avnish Kabaj

04:12

chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/95324/…

-1

Q: How to justify this contradiction in acid-base equilibrium of methanol and water?

Let's talk about the following compounds - water and methanol. We know that methanol is slightly more acidic than water, because water's ability to donate a proton as an acid is reduced due to extensive hydrogen bonding. The $\mathrm{p}K_\mathrm{a}$ values are approximately $15.5$ and $15.7$, ...

-1

Q: Gas Releasing from a Cylinder

How does pressure change inside a cylinder of a gas (say, carbon dioxide) at a given temperature, and external pressure - if gaseous carbon dioxide is released from the cylinder at constant temperature? How can we draw a graph of pressure as a function of time? Would it matter if the constant...

thermodynamics gas-laws pressure kinetic-theory-of-gases

Was I wrong over those two cases

I have been resisting the urge to trash talk

Gaurang Tandon

06:02

It's not a homework question, it's something I've been wondering about. What gave you the right to assume it's a homework question? Is that how Stackexchange works for every question they don't intend to answer? — schrodinger_16 2 hours ago

the entire problem arises over the use of the word "homework" itself

the OP is right that it isn't from their textbook, but that's because conventionally "homework" is supposed to mean just that

i personally find the use of the word homework ambiguous, and confusing for infrequent visitors, that's why I don't use it at all in my own canned comment: "Hi %name%, welcome to Chem.SE! We require you to show your efforts on this problem. What formulae/steps did you try? Where did you get stuck? Please add this to your question. Thanks! "

@AvnishKabaj I suggest using this canned response instead. It avoids mentioning "homework", as the very mention of the word "homework" can lead to a debate with the OP as to what is homework and what is not, as happened with you

i personally feel we all should drop the usage of the word "homework" altogether, as its usage on our site differs radically from its intended definition in the dictionary and elsewhere on the internet

and ends up confusing OPs quite frequently

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the way I see it is that that FAQ post was created for textbook questions _only_ (where the "homework" makes sense), but later it got applied to every second question that lacked effort (and wasn't textbook homework). So, instead of creating a new FAQ, somehow people thought it good to expand upon the original one instead and yet retain the word "homework" (-_-)

and confuse generations of OPs

@any-regular is my summary right? ---^

hmmm, seems I am right. Math.SE originated the first usage of "homework" - and quite correctly. Their "homework" literally means textbook problems that students need help with

two months later, Phy.SE somehow considered it appropriate to also merge "self-study problems, puzzles" along with it - ruining the definition of the word homework, and sowing seeds of confusion that would irritate OPs for close to a decade now!

and since our former leader ManishEarth was a Phy.SE veteran, it makes sense why our community also follows almost the same guidelines as were set in Phy.SE

adding in the definition for completeness: "homework - schoolwork that a pupil is required to do at home" (oxford). It is even obvious to a layman that our definition of "homework" is completely inaccurate

imho, we should have a separate close reason for "low effort questions", or drop the word "homework" altogether

wow, what a wall of text I have just posted o.O

Avnish Kabaj

06:36

I have had incidents like this before but the response is like

> lol no this is not homework

This dude just starts calling out on other users

@GaurangTandon

> i personally find the use of the word homework ambiguous, and confusing for infrequent visitors, that's why I don't use it at all in my own canned comment: "Hi %name%, welcome to Chem.SE! We require you to show your efforts on this problem. What formulae/steps did you try? Where did you get stuck? Please add this to your question.

I don't want to be this nice

Martin - マーチン

07:39

@orthocresol Have you already been around when he was active?

orthocresol

@GaurangTandon that’s essentially what we have proposed before. It didn’t seem to catch on, though. I agree with everything you said

@Martin-マーチン, no

Martin - マーチン

you're lucky then ;)

Re: Why should one perform an extraction with multiple small portions of solvent as opposed to one large portion? He makes a point here, albeit it is really obfuscated by ... stuff.

Gaurang Tandon

@orthocresol :( if it didn't catch on, it's probably because - due to repeated meta/chat discussions around the topic of "homework" - every community member has developed their own interpretation of what homework stands for, what it should stand for, whether it's acceptable or not, etc.

@Martin-マーチン he answered one of my questions - back in 2014 - as a newcomer, I didn't know all his answers were exactly like that

Your answer's a bit difficult to follow, thanks though. — Gaurang Tandon Mar 31 '14 at 4:52

lol, I find that comment of mine funny now

I only upvoted his post so that he felt good that his effort in writing a detailed long answer didn't go wasted

Martin - マーチン

08:13

What would it be good if there were a citation with your question ;)

@GaurangTandon Wohooo I downvoted that instantly

Gaurang Tandon

@Martin-マーチン thanks for nullifying my guilt of upvoting it ^_^

@Martin-マーチン i know, but I was a complete beginner at that time :P In fact, now I am surprised my question didn't get closed as "unclear what you're asking" at that time

Martin - マーチン

I don't think it's a bad question, and wouldn't have wanted to close it, but the lack of a citations makes it somewhat irrelevant a few years later...

Gaurang Tandon

yes, though honestly, I think that's my lowest quality contribution to chem.se till date

but why in the world did it get +17k views! o.O why are so many people concerned about a weird typo in a random book which even I forgot a few years later :-O

Martin - マーチン

08:30

wild guess: If you let Google sensei search for boiling point increase, your questions triggers all the words; i'd expect it to right up there with Wikipedia sensei.

Gaurang Tandon

08:46

yah, totally right

M.A.R. ಠ_ಠ

10:01

1

Q: Boiling point of a liquid increasing with temperature?

In my textbook, a statement is given, as follows: Boiling point of a liquid increases with increase in temperature However, I was wondering, isn't this wrong? The boiling point of a liquid always remains the same, it doesn't change. Hence, my question is: Is the above statement wrong? If ...

physical-chemistry inorganic-chemistry everyday-chemistry boiling-point

His face might be unclear, but his question isn't

@GaurangTandon wow, someone pour some ice water on that dude

@GaurangTandon Uncle Al is not the most popular guy around

Gaurang Tandon

@M.A.R.ಠ_ಠ already did

@M.A.R.ಠ_ಠ ofc he isn't, not sure how that relates though :/

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"**This question is missing context or other details:** Please improve the question by providing additional context, which ideally includes your thoughts on the problem and any attempts you have made to solve it. This information helps others identify where you have difficulties and helps them write answers appropriate to your experience level." I love the math.se close reason, glad they don't mention homework even once.

obackhouse