Questions tagged [scope]

For discussions about the site's scope - what questions and topics should and should not be on-topic on the site.

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2 votes
0 answers
73 views

Are questions asking for confirmation of a method off-topic?

I have asked a question relating to how I have approached a problem. My reason for asking the question was my answers seem to be unrealistic. The question is here: How to calculate force on a string ...
6 votes
4 answers
337 views

Is it on-topic to ask about homemade construction of tools?

As a mad scientist, skilled with his hands. I build my own tools, in many cases. I think would be very useful if can ask about contruction of tools related to the Physical (in general). (contruction ...
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Why my question is hold on?

I asked at: Sum of energy from torques of several disks in double rotation It is on hold, but I don't find another forum or question where this problem is resolved. It's possible to use lower number ...
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11 votes
4 answers
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What does this community mean by students?

So the title says all. What is the meaning of a student of Physics as per this community? I ask this because there are students at many levels: 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th graders, undergraduates, ...
3 votes
1 answer
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By what criteria do you judge whether mathy questions should or should not be considered off-topic?

Let us take as an example this question. Consider whether you think it should be considered off-topic (for being purely mathematical in nature). Should one's opinion on whether a mathematical ...
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Experimental Physics & Engineering

I know that most of us are "paper theorists," but I think we need to remember that experimental physics is physics too! We have several tags for experimental physics (with tag excerpts): ...
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3 votes
1 answer
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Compiling a book's errors in a single question

A user recently asked if a certain computation she/he saw in Weinberg's QM was in error: Rate of change of a normalised wave function I've found other typos/errors in the same book, and I think ...
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3 answers
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Thoughts on meta post on homework question handling and basic questions

I spend most of my time on the TeX.SE and venture to other SE sites when looking for help. However, the atmosphere here seems to be going the way of the "old" stackoverflow SE. By old, I mean about ...
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6 answers
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Should any check-my-work questions be made on topic?

It's long overdue that I make this post revisiting our policy on "check-my-work" questions. These are questions, often (but not necessarily) homework-like, that present a complete mathematical or ...
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4 votes
3 answers
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How to ask debunking questions

What is the proper format to ask debunking questions without being marked as off-topic, yet be able to step through the entire theory logically? Specifically, I am looking at Wallace Kluck's claim on ...
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Homework questions, on hold

As a newcomer, I'd like to give you my contribution to improve this wonderful site. In general, homework help is the gold mine of such sites, you do not shows statistics, but the sites that do that ...
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4 votes
2 answers
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Any help available for Solid State Electronic Devices and Materials?

I am teaching and doing research work in Solid State Electronic Devices and Materials, which is a subset of Materials Science & Engineering - a branch of Applied Physics. I want to know if this ...
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3 votes
1 answer
230 views

Can I ask theoretical physics questions on physics.stackexchange?

Can I ask theoretical physics questions on physics.stackexchange?
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3 answers
257 views

Question about Other Universes in Physics Exchange

In the Area 51 Exchange I've found that "The Theoretical Physics site didn't have enough activity during the beta. It has been closed, and its content has been merged into Physics". But when I've done ...
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1 answer
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Isn't physics is all about application

I am not complaining, neither I am any kind of rebel here. I am just asking that isn't physics all about the physical phenomenon that used to happen everyday, every second around us. Isn't it's about ...
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6 votes
2 answers
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Are Problem Explanations Allowed in Physics.stackexchange?

Am I allowed to put a physics problem that pertains to a certain subject, and answer that problem so other people can understand the concept? I think doing this would help other people so that they ...
2 votes
2 answers
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Concerning appropriate questions: Where is "mainstream physics" emphasized?

In a comment to my answer here I was asked: and can you provide source for that this forum is only for mainstream physics, what is mainstream? I thought that this was written in the help page, but ...
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3 votes
2 answers
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The appropriate place for a question about the science behind music

This question is inspired by the heated debate that went down here: Is there physics behind the layout of a piano keyboard? The question itself is fascinating to me, and I'd love to see a long and ...
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1 answer
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Has the entertainment aspect of a question any value besides dry logic?

Physicists are also people and can appreciate nice wording, politeness and paradoxes. I am asking specifically about this imprecise question which appears amusing because it is not strictly defined. ...
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0 answers
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Linked Questions across different StackExchange

I was thinking about a whole family of grey questions that the SE structure kind of makes difficult to answer. If there are problems which overlap with two areas, say Physics and one of the ...
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2 answers
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How can I make my question On topic? 2

I asked a question about the relation between mathematics and physics a few days ago: https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/109506/a-relation-between-the-law-of-multiplication-with-average-...
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16 votes
8 answers
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Should pure math questions be on topic?

We've previously had some discussion about the suitability of pure math questions for this site. Currently, pure math questions - by which I mean those that have no physics content, even if they arise ...
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2 votes
1 answer
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Let's refine our definition of what scope we import from Astronomy.SE

One thing after the recent astrobiology discussion was clear: our policy that "anything on topic on the old astrophysics site is on topic here" seems to be a bit vague and under question. While the ...
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7 votes
2 answers
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Adding computational science to the list of on-topic items in the Help Center

Recently we've been discussing here whether questions on numerical algorithms should be allowed when the context is a physics problem. The last time this was discussed on Meta seems to be here (a ...
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8 votes
3 answers
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Should this astrobiology question be reopened?

Silicon-based life was closed for being off topic. It's possibly an astrobiology question, and was migrated from the old Astronomy.SE. In which case it is on topic by current rules. Probably. (we ...
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11 votes
3 answers
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Has our policy on astronomy questions changed now that Astronomy beta is open?

I noticed that this question was migrated to the new Astronomy beta site: https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/1845/ My understanding was that since the merger with the old astronomy site, all ...
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1 vote
2 answers
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How can I make my question On topic?

I asked this question Effects of microwaves on optical properties of human eye a few days ago. I really asked some offtopic things but now i've edited it appropriately. But it is still closed. So ...
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1 vote
5 answers
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Should this question be on hold?

Which component shows spin squeezing under twisting Hamiltonian? There is a contentious debate emerging about whether this question, currently at revision 5, should be open or not. Standard practice ...
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9 votes
2 answers
258 views

Realistically, are atmospheric physics questions on topic and acceptable?

I have very serious doubts from my experience here (albeit, limited). Two things that I have rightly or wrongly observed from the responses (and lack thereof) to my questions: The answer I got was ...
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13 votes
3 answers
506 views

Asking math questions

I understand that asking pure math questions on the physics site is discouraged and I've seen many questions moved over to math. However, often times such questions are more suited for physicists to ...
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15 votes
1 answer
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Is the question 'explaining gravity to a six-year-old' off-topic?

I recently asked this question about explaining gravity to a 6 year old and it made it into the "Hot Network Questions" list. It generated a lot of discussion and has some very good answers. ...
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8 votes
2 answers
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Can we please stop applying the homework tag (and policy) to very advanced questions?

This question is inspired by Colin McFauls very reasonable classification of questions tagged as homework due to the very broad notion of the term "homework-like" currently applied at Physics SE, ...
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21 votes
3 answers
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Graduate and above level questions aren't homework

I know, I know, it's yet another Meta post about our homework policy. Feel free to downvote and write abusive comments if you're heartily sick of posts about the homework policy. If you're still with ...
0 votes
1 answer
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Why we should not discuss new theories? [duplicate]

I heard recently that we should not discuss new theories here. Why we should not discuss new theories when they are very closely resembling the existing accepted theories but with slight modification. ...
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14 votes
2 answers
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Do we need/want an overarching books question?

The current tag wiki for the books - now resource-recommendation - tag includes, in its final paragraph, the request that If you question is about resource-recommendations, please add your question ...
7 votes
2 answers
298 views

Should we use stronger wording in the help center's on topic page?

The help center page about site scope includes the phrase Some kinds of questions should not be asked here: A little while ago it was suggested (and further discussed) that the use of "should" ...
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2 votes
2 answers
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Isn't "video documentaries about physics?" too broad?

This question was recently bumped to the front page: Video documentaries about physics?. It lay dormant for many years, which explains why it wasn't closed under the previous absolutely-not books ...
4 votes
2 answers
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Seismic image processing questions on Physics SE

Would I be allowed to post question relating to seismic image processing on Physics SE under the "Geophysics" tag?
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1 answer
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Why was this question marked as a duplicate?

This question isn't duplicate anymore. Why do people criticize beginners? https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/82672/what-is-the-length-of-a-photon
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0 votes
1 answer
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Can I post this on the main site?

Can I post this on the main site? There is a sweater involved. If so, what would be the appropriate tags? (Click picture for the link.) NB: The deadline almost certainly refers to Central European ...
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1 vote
2 answers
472 views

Physics vs philosophy

I understand we deal with mainstream physics here but as physics has been developed from philosophy only why are questions based on speculations and those which are related to looking for ...
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9 votes
1 answer
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"What's a good research topic?" questions

Every so often we get a question that goes more or less like I'm a masters/bachelor/highschool student and I really like physics and I'm really interested in (some broad physics field)/(all of ...
8 votes
1 answer
173 views

May I ask questions I come across while attempting to write science fiction?

Is it allowed to use the site to see if your ideas are plausible? The questions I have (1) (2) don't contain any hypothetical technologies or physics, only hypothetical planets, but since I am trying ...
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0 votes
1 answer
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What is the point for placing a question on hold or marking it as off-topic?

I wanted to know what the parameter's on which a question asked by a user is marked as off-topic or put on hold for example look at this question. As much I know this question was related to physics ...
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5 votes
2 answers
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Is [fun-stuff] on topic?

I just approved two edits removing the tag fun-stuff from the two only posts that currently have it: What are the limitations of performing music in space? How much force is in a keystroke? (...
16 votes
3 answers
1k views

How to deal with questions based on videos?

Here are two recent questions that I would consider low in quality: Is coherent light required for interference in the Young double slit experiment? What theories explain the wave-particle duality as ...
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1 vote
2 answers
60 views

Would a question asking for examples of unobservable posits in physical theories be appropriate?

The title really says it all: would a question asking for examples of unobservable posits in physical theories be appropriate for this SE? I know that requests for lists are generally frowned upon. ...
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7 votes
2 answers
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Why should the "list of breakthroughs in physics" be allowed?

I just noticed the question on Accidental, unplanned breakthroughs in physics which you have probably seen if you're reading this. It's attracted a lot of positive attention, but I cannot for the life ...
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Transfer question from electrical engineering

I don't have rep on that site so could someone consider moving https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/79447/can-a-circuit-be-powered-from-earth-with-a-return-ground-on-mars to physics SE? It ...
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9 votes
1 answer
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Questions that look like senseless, but with sensible answers

Here are two questions that do not make sense, while reading them: At CERN - What do you call the moment (event) particles crash together in the particle accelerator? Is there a proof of existence ...

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