# Are these questions not about mathematics. If yes then is there any other site on SE network or outside SE where I can ask these type of question?

NOTE:
Since my question is opened now so this meta question question doesn't make any sense. I am not changing most of the content of my question because it will invalidate the answer given. The clipped portion of the question has been asked on main because I think it is more suitable to main site.

I asked two similar questions, 1, 2 a few days ago. 2nd is closed because "This question is not about mathematics, within the scope defined in the help center". I am under the impression that they are really not mathematical questions. So,

• To which subject these questions belong?
• Is there any website inside or outside SE network where these type of questions are allowed.

Reading the reason of closure contemplatively I come to the conclusion that this website doesn't cater all level of questions.

This question is not about mathematics, within the scope defined in the help center

As my question is a homework question it might be that my question is a mathematical one but since it lacks a certain amount of research/effort, it is closed.

• This is disrespect. There is not much point in further wasting time here. I've 2 or 3 questions left to ask on main site. I'm doing research for them. And 1 question of Physics. After asking them I will never come back to these polictical sites. These are not for open science. – user103816 Jun 4 '14 at 13:18
• I do think that questions like math.stackexchange.com/q/819047/630 are not about "mathematics". This is because they have no objectively correct answer, and are really only slightly removed from the question "What number am I thinking of?" (which, if you don't know, is a reference to a Saturday Night Live skit youtube.com/watch?v=6sdVx5gQz6w ) In fact your second question already shows two possible answers (which are not obtained by interpolation). If you clarify the question by giving a closed form for the $n$th term, then the question would have an objective answer. – Carl Mummert Jun 4 '14 at 13:50
• @CarlMummert I haven't read much Math. I don't know what you mean by closed form for the nth term . I've posted the question as it is in the book. I've shared what I tried. Since the question is closed as: not about mathematics, within the scope defined in the help center . I only want to know whether it is a Math question or is it closed because these type of questions aren't allowed here. I'm tired of discussions. I came on SE sites to know the answers of my questions. – user103816 Jun 4 '14 at 14:10
• !user31782: unfortunately, some math books have bad questions. I believe your question was closed because several other people voted, in addition to me, that they do not think that the question fits this site. Don't give too much weight to the "not about mathematics" reason; the number of options available when someone votes to close is not very long, so the reasons are not always completely accurate. My comment above from 13:50 on June 4 is a better explanation of what is wrong, in my opinion, with the sort of question that we are discussing (the "read my mind" type of question). – Carl Mummert Jun 4 '14 at 14:14
• This type of questions was discussed before: meta.math.stackexchange.com/questions/924/…, meta.math.stackexchange.com/questions/12807/…, meta.math.stackexchange.com/questions/6588/… (and maybe a few other threads). – Martin Sleziak Jun 4 '14 at 14:26
• @CarlMummert Can we use interpolation in solving a question on sequences? The question-5 that I quoted in the question above can also be answered by interpolation. The book mentions only one correct answer for 5th question. This way the book will be technically incorrect; which is less likely to be because it is a standard book. – user103816 Jun 4 '14 at 14:31
• – user1729 Jun 4 '14 at 16:24
• I agree that your question does not have a correct answer and that it is an unfair question to ask on an exam, but I also sympathise because it's absurd to call it "not about mathematics" just because it has no right answer, even if it technically does not belong to the site according to some rule. I'm sorry that the community has given your question here a -6 score, just because a negative score is not very welcoming even if it is the convention here. Unfortunately this site is so large that people are often more concerned with keeping the site in order rather than treating visitors kindly. – user2055 Jun 9 '14 at 19:47