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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Why is there so much string theory in physics stack exchange? [edited]

EDIT: People have generally swayed my opinion here. It's really only the "unanswered questions top voted" tab that seems to have an oversized string theory content. And partly its because of ...
1 vote
0 answers
50 views

Why was this considered a 'bad question'?

Yesterday, I asked a question about capacitors. It was closed under the "homework-and-exercises" tag and my submit-to-review appeal was rejected. I'm not coming here to complain, I'm just ...
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3 votes
1 answer
93 views

Why was the resource-recommendation tag removed from my question?

In my question I ask for a reference that presents the recursive calculation of the HaMiDeW coefficients. The resource-recommendation tag seemed perfectly suitable to me, but both the tag and my ...
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-7 votes
0 answers
66 views

Resource for graduate-level physics interview [closed]

Please mention some resource where I can find conceptual questions, or questions asked in interviews in several universities' interviews. It will help. Or some resource which can provide a summary or ...
-11 votes
0 answers
99 views

Why does nobody here knows anything about physics? [closed]

I keep getting my questions banned just because they are slightly difficult, instead of banning hard questions I would suggest to the moderators that they improve their knowledge and education level ...
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-2 votes
1 answer
158 views

Asking if a post deleted on MathOverflow could be suitable for the main site Physics Stack Exchange [closed]

I've asked 9 months ago the post below on MathOverflow. The post with identifier 423567 and same title (see below) was closed and deleted, there was an answer from a professor, and several comments ...
2 votes
1 answer
83 views

Are questions about specific mechanical systems off-topic?

I recently posted the following question about a mechanical system described in an exercise: Acceleration of masses connected by a leaning pole I am emphatically not looking for someone to check my ...
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-7 votes
2 answers
114 views

Question of sending internet packets through time closed for "off topic"

My question about sending internet packets through time was closed as "off-topic" as it was "non-mainstream-physics". This seems like mainstream physics to me, so it should fit on ...
17 votes
1 answer
270 views

Fusion related questions almost always closed as "opinion-based"

I don't drop into this sub too often because my interest is mostly in fusion as a power source, and questions on the topic typically come up about every month or so. By the time I see them, questions ...
1 vote
1 answer
97 views

Why is a question about gravity from a charged capacitor and its answers so much better received than one about gravity from virtual photons?

An example: Why does Gravitational field from virtual photons; does $\rho c^2 = \frac{1}{2} \epsilon_0 |E|^2$? ~230 views have zero votes (+0/-0), and both good answers have only my single upvote, ...
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0 votes
1 answer
95 views

Why is this not focussed enough?

My question here has been closed as "not focussed enough". Given I got exactly the answer I wanted in next to no time, I find that hard to believe. Especially considering how concise and to ...
-8 votes
1 answer
105 views

Stop closing questions that are considered "homework type" [duplicate]

I recently posted a question What will be the final temperature in this case? Which contained information about a thermodynamical process and asked to calculate work done. The question was tagged &...
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1 vote
1 answer
85 views

A rule of thumb of answer satisfaction?

So one rule of thumb I've noticed is that if the upvotes of a question is more than the upvotes of any of the answers. Then somehow the community feels the question was not answered satisfactorily. (...
4 votes
1 answer
91 views

How should we handle "multidisciplinary" questions with subparts that are appropriate for different SE networks?

This question was closed as "not suitable for" Physics SE. Based on the comments, the voters seemed to think that it belongs to Biology SE instead. I don't understand this reasoning. ...
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1 vote
1 answer
90 views

MathJax usage for questions by new users

While I agree that MathJax makes things convenient and far more readable, it seems unfair to demand fresh new users to learn it before posting a question, which is something of a common occurence here....
1 vote
0 answers
33 views

What to do about old unanswered questions? [duplicate]

I am relatively new to SE and I am wondering what is the best thing to do when I ask a question that remains unanswered (not even through comments) for a long time? Is it allowed to re-ask the same ...
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9 votes
0 answers
114 views

2022: a year in moderation

As we say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one, we have a tradition of sharing moderation stats for the preceding calendar year. As most of you here are aware, sites on the Stack Exchange ...
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12 votes
1 answer
130 views

Usage of comments

I am aware of the temporary nature of comments in phys.SE (and generally in the SE network) and their primary scope to ask for/point out clarifications on a post, or to suggest edits. However, upon a ...
9 votes
1 answer
208 views

Posting links to online calculators

Sometimes, when answering a question, I have taken advantage of the availability of online calculators. Theses calculators do specific and useful calculations like determine the grams of water in air ...
5 votes
1 answer
96 views

Do we need a popular videos tag or specific author tags?

There are frequent questions based on external videos, specifically YouTube popular physics videos. For example, there are many questions based on Veritasium experiments. Would it be worth it to have ...
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14 votes
1 answer
164 views

Off-topic posts being used to link to from outside

A poster has written something long-ish which was voted as off-topic/personal theory. I don’t have any issue with that. However, they state in comments that they intend to leave it closed and ...
10 votes
1 answer
285 views

Was my comment inappropriate?

I don’t have enough reputation to vote to close or migrate questions, so instead I commented on this question and wrote “This question is about math, not physics.” The comment was deleted. Was it ...
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6 votes
1 answer
146 views

Is it advisable to provide a supplementary answer to a question?

Question As the title (hopefully tries to convey) - Is it advisable to answer a question with an answer that is more "supplementary"? Examples Like, based on other answers? For example; I ...
2 votes
1 answer
187 views

Should editors share the punishment for downvotes?

I recently edited a closed question by another user, in an attempt to reopen the question. For that I had to somewhat modify the question, by removing fluff like 'please answer this' but also adding ...
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5 votes
0 answers
83 views

Help with understanding if question is appropriate and/or how to reframe it

In this closed question I was asking about particular claims made by a nonmainstream theory in the literature. I was asking about it since I didn't find much info about it elsewhere, so I wanted to ...
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-2 votes
1 answer
217 views

Why my question is still closed as "homework like" or "check my work" even I asked for the concept?

I asked a question Is the average position for the ground state of a 1D simple harmonic oscillator zero?. I asked why the average position of the ground state of a simple harmonic oscillator (SHO) is ...
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2 votes
0 answers
82 views

Why is "this" question physics, but "that" question is not?

While I think this question On the definition of positive linear supermaps on Hilbert spaces may be an interesting mathematical question about Hilbert spaces, why is it not closed for belonging ...
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-1 votes
2 answers
92 views

Is there a rule against being overly persistent and inquisitive in comments?

I have only asked about five questions on the site so far, and about 15 questions across the English Language & Usage, Chemistry, Blender, Biology, Physics, Mathematics and Philosophy Stack ...
user avatar
-3 votes
2 answers
151 views

Why do we still apply the homework policy even when there are many opposite opinions?

Every question marked as "homework-like" will be pointed to How Do I Ask Homework Questions on Physics Stack Exchange. There are a lot of opposite opinions under the highest answer. Why do ...
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5 votes
4 answers
276 views

Is it rude to answer your own question yourself after other solutions are available?

As the title says, given a question of mine with one or more answers by other users, is it rude to provide a more focused answer by myself? I find that sometimes I solve my own doubts through the ...
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56 votes
1 answer
1k views

Please don't use computer-generated text for questions or answers on Physics

In the past couple of weeks, a new generation of computer language-generating tools has become available to the public. The main bit of news is about a product called "ChatGPT," but that's ...
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-2 votes
5 answers
324 views

Allowing mathematical and homework questions on this site

I'm about to complete my four-year physics degree and want to write briefly on the topic of this site. I've spent a lot of time on the physics Stack Exchange site (not on this account) and believe, ...
  • 45
0 votes
0 answers
92 views

Can we ask for the physics summer internships options on the 'Physics' Stack Exchange site?

I am trying to find summer internships for physics in the USA and as an international student, I am having a tough time finding more options. I was planning to ask this question on the Physics Stack ...
12 votes
1 answer
161 views

How does PSE traffic change over time?

I joined the site 8 years ago now and I'd be curious how things have changed over time. Have we been gaining traffic? Losing traffic? Are there particular seasons or times of year that users flock to ...
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8 votes
2 answers
221 views

Proper procedure for addressing an incorrect accepted answer

Sometimes I see an interesting and accepted answer that includes useful ideas on nuanced topics, but that (I think) ultimately has flaws that makes it wrong. I hope to learn the proper etiquette for ...
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1 vote
0 answers
67 views

Should useful duplicates be obviously linked from their nominal original question?

There has been much discussion in the past on both Physics and other Metas about How to deal with answers to duplicate questions, especially when the duplicate questions or its answers are useful. It ...
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-2 votes
1 answer
191 views

How can this answer have so many upvotes? [closed]

How can this answer have so many upvotes? How is it even possible? I implore you; go downvote this ridiculous answer. (And upvote correct answers!) Update: The answer was deleted, thanks to Pat
  • 13.4k
0 votes
1 answer
116 views

Embarrassing migration

This question has been migrated to Mathematics SE (MSE) a few minutes ago. I find it embarrassing since the question is clearly ill-posed both from the mathematical point of view (how the relation ...
1 vote
0 answers
76 views

What can you do when you know your answer is wrong, but has the "right" comments below it?

I recently asked this question on Physics SE. Thinking about it for a while, I thought I had come up with an answer and thus answered my own question. But Triatticus pointed out how my solution is ...
-1 votes
1 answer
95 views

Question closed despite being popular

I have asked four questions in recent days and all of them are being closed for the same annoying reason. This question, despite garnering popular attention, was closed due to the same reason: ...
2 votes
0 answers
50 views

Canonical Question about Entropy

Is there (or should there be) a canonical question/answer about entropy? Or more specifically, about the various definitions of the term entropy and their relationship? It seem like everyday there is ...
  • 13.4k
8 votes
2 answers
182 views

How can a question on electromagnetism in dielectrics be considered engineering?

How can a question on Penetration of electromagnetic waves in insulators? be classified as engineering? To be sure, the only answer seems to have focused on some particular issues that some might ...
  • 5,603
6 votes
0 answers
117 views

Yet another question for reopening

My question on diagonalizing the inertia tensor using Euler angles was closed as a duplicate. The suggested duplicate is a question on converting a rotation matrix to Euler angles. My question is how ...
  • 42.3k
9 votes
1 answer
159 views

Question for reopening

This question is of the form "Here is a striking empirical fact. Is there an explanation for it?". It's been closed, with comments suggesting that questions of this form are "science ...
  • 13.4k
24 votes
4 answers
394 views

Why is there a homework tag if the posts keep getting closed?

Almost every time I ask for a specific concept using an example in a book, my post keeps getting closed. I didn't want for an answer to the specific problem or get my answer checked, but only to ...
4 votes
2 answers
228 views

Can I explicitly ask for a specific proof that involves a long calculation?

Recently, I was unable to perform a physical calculation correctly, and I could not find any explicit proof of it, not online or in any book, to understand what I was doing wrong. This calculation ...
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0 votes
0 answers
120 views

Is there anyone who wants to attend to a physics of philosophy online forum?

Is there anyone who wants to attend to a physics of philosophy online forum? Hello, I'm a high school student in Korea who truly loves physics. Recently, I have been very interested in the philosophy ...
4 votes
2 answers
219 views

How should I ask a question about an idea if it's not a known physical subject to me?

Yesterday I asked this question following the thought that an inner structure of spacetime can be embraced in a structure function $s(x)$, to allow for a field theory with macroscopically curved ...
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1 vote
2 answers
114 views

Reopening a question

This question was closed for lack of clarity. Although it's a bit awkwardly worded, I think the clear intention was to ask "Why does the speed of light show up in an equation that relates mass ...
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1 vote
1 answer
80 views

Do you have to be responsive to comments on your question to get good answers?

Do you have to keep looking at the site to look at the comments and respond to them?

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