Questions tagged [asking-questions]
Questions specifically about the process of asking questions on this site.
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Why image cannot be used for explaining my maths problem?
I joined few days ago and have recently asked many questions. In most of these questions, I use image to make everyone understand it better. I prefer to use both MathJax as well as Image. But most of ...
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How to ask a good question.
How to ask a good question.
This thread has advice on the following aspects of writing a good question on this site. Each item in this list links to an answer below about that specific aspect of ...
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How do rid my question of hanging quantifiers?
According to a user (who deleted his comments) my question contained hanging quantifiers which prevents people from fully understanding my post.
The problem is when he rephrased my question (in the ...
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Making my question (and sub-questions) rigorous and readable? [closed]
Question for this post: In my post, how do I make the motivation and question rigorous and readable to get a proper answer. (It received downvotes when I first originally sent it to math overflow but ...
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Are my questions really this bad?
I just noticed this "recommended" badge in my profile and I'm rather confused.
I have $20$ out of the $5$ needed questions for this badge, but apparently they are "poor" questions ...
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How to better ask problems from known contests?
As we know, AoPS has got contest collections, containing threads where users discuss corresponding contest problems. Therefore, is it really necessary to ask them on mathematics stack exchange, if one ...
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Has the culture of acceptable questions on SE changed over time?
I am relatively new to SE, but I have noticed something quite peculiar. I often am reading lots of old questions (years old) and encounter many that are very short, show very little self-attempt, and ...
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Quick beginner guide for asking a well-received question
Mean structure proposed
I am writing this post for new users who don't have the time to read the full article of how to ask a good question. In this post, I will give my opinion of what structure ...
CommunityBot
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question edited to change meaning
The question Example of function which is not computable was recently edited by the original poster to completely change the meaning. In particular, the accepted answer is no longer reflective of the ...
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Understand downvotes on my initially well-received questions
Good afternoon,
Since I started using this website I've always tried to make my question better to satisfy the generous members sharing their knowledge.
Usually, I don't ask big questions, but short ...
CommunityBot
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Proposal: Require first time question askers to pass a short quiz on how to ask a good question, before posting their first question
Given the large number of first time question askers who evidently do not really read the advice on how to ask a good question, I propose:
The site should require first time question askers to take a ...
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Is it okay to ask an already solved problem?
I was working on some problem and managed to solve using one approach but when I tried a different approach to the same problem I didn't get the expected result, when I was going to ask on the math ...
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How to add a long update to one's question?
I just wrote an answer to one of my own questions in which I essentially gave a partial, incomplete attempt at solving the question I asked (which had received zero replies so far).
I chose to post ...
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Should I Delete My Answer Even Though It's Correct?
I have answered a question concerning the derivation of a physics problem here: Trying to derive Newton's Shell Theorem, How do I integrate this?
For some clumsy reason, I wasn't considering the ...
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How to ask a question which has to use terminology from a foreign language that doesn't have an accurate translation in English?
The question I want to ask is about a concept for which there is a specific term in a foreign language. The problem is that this term doesn't have an accurate translation in english and since it ...
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Can I post a 'homework' question without any MathJax/Latex.
Beginner here to mathstackexchange. I have a 'homework' question from a university course that I'm getting quite stuck on. Important Note: This is homework from a past course I've already completed ...
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Implementing a fill-in-the-blank type structure for new users asking questions
A notable problem on this site seems to be PSQs from new users. In order to encourage better questions, I suggest implementing a fill-in-the-blank type structure for new users asking questions. Once a ...
CommunityBot
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Is there a shorter and more opinionated version of "How to ask a good question?" that we can direct new users to?
The advice in how to ask a good question is good, but reading through the whole thing takes a while and, IMHO, requires some familiarity with the site to interpret. It also presents the reader with ...
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About a possible change of instructions to ask a question, for beginners.
It's a well known problem that a new user often doesn't ask a question properly, e.g. asks a PSQ.
Perhaps the user can be suggested to check just this
table, (to begin with), instead of the current 2 ...
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Is Math Stackexchange only for experts?
So recently I asked a few questions that seemed pretty difficult to me. But when I scrolled through some other questions I felt that to most other users my question are probably just elementary.
Since ...
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How to avoid downvotes for beginner's questions?
I just asking this because of a question I asked a couple of minutes ago. I am still new to sequences and series, just started to study the subject today on my own and I tried to solve some exercises. ...
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Posting 'Solved' Questions
I recently created a nice olympiad problem on the invariance principle, and I thought about posting it on Math Stack Exchange. However, I was unsure about it as the community guidelines have not ...
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Looking for stats on relation between rep, number of questions, and number of questions downvoted is
I'm looking for some following stats:
A detailed histogram depicting for a given amount of rep, what the average number of questions asked is
Conversely, a detailed histogram depicting for a given ...
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Why can't I edit a new question in place of a duplicate?
I have $5$ or so duplicate/closed questions, which is hurting my "positive question record" statistic. So, I edited a useless duplicate question and asked a new question, which I was told &...
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Why sometimes when I post a problem I need to wait for 40 minutes?
I recently was trying to post a maths problem but when I click on submit it tells me that you can post once in every 40minutes as such I didn't post anything at all before this in few months so why ...
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Can I make a collapse/expandable area?
Is it possible to make a collapse/expandable section in a question ?
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Feature request to help new users [duplicate]
I had this thought the other day on what was concerning new users the most, and one thing I noticed was how new users' questions were regularly downvoted. Being a new user means being exposed to many ...
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Questions from elementary beginners
I'm tutoring a high school student who is taking calculus for the first time. I've been trying to encourage her to become more interested in math, and so I thought it could be a good idea to teach her ...
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Improving guidance on the "Ask question" page
I am aware that this issue has been rehashed on Meta numerous times, so I was surprised to discover today that the guidance given to posters on the "Ask question" page is still far from ...
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User keeps posting questions with posted images, instead of writing the question themself.
It seems that a certain user is in the habit of posting questions (often homework) by cutting and pasting images instead of taking the time to write it out explicitly in MathJax. With more than three ...
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How come some of my questions get only some comments but not any answer?
Certain times, I post questions that get some valuable comments but never an answer.
For example the question for comparison on real numbers and caveats.
I am not sure why this happening. Is my post ...
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How fundamental is the choice of title in a question on Math.SE?
When I'm trying to write a question I certainly make a lot of effort to be as clear as possible.
Certainly the hurry does not provide good advice and, several times in my specific case, I spend little ...
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What to do if I like the question in a post but the post is presented in a bad quality. [duplicate]
I have been wondering about this question for the last week.
It is really pointed out to everyone at all times that whenever you ask a question, you must include details, motivation, thoughts, or some ...
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Questions regarding mathematical programming
What is the best place to ask questions about mathematical programming, between Math.SE and StackOverflow?
What I have in mind is the following type of questions:
Solving the word problem in a group ...
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Unusual behaviour of community
I recently (3 days ago) posted a question. It was quite lengthy and descriptive but I had given it my best to outline the question and made sure it was well written.
Like I mentioned earlier it is 3 ...
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Is it alright to have a question on Math Stack Exchange that simply asks the name of a theorem?
The title pretty much explains this question. I am wondering what the name for the lemma that states "If one integer divides two different integers then it will divide their difference." Is ...
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Is it useful to the community to post questions without having had formal training in mathematics?
As someone who is interested in how numbers behave, but with no formal experience or vocabulary, I recently posted a couple of questions and gained quite a bit of knowledge and insight from the ...
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"You can only post once every 40 minutes."
Dear all friendly mathematicians,
When I tried to post my question on this site - I saw
"You can only post once every 40 minutes."
Is there a restriction on that in general? Or is that due ...
quidMod
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Color change on the M.Se site.
This is a quick question which again happened as a glitch. I was looking for questions to answer and somehow saw the “ask question” and “activity” button, on the home page and my page respectively, ...
PedroMod
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Would someone looking for this question know what a "codomain" is?
Looking at this question should the word "codomain" be changed to "range" in the title to make this post more easily find-able by those with same question? I.e. do kids these days ...
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What is a "PSQ"?
The term "PSQ" is frequently used on Mathematics Stack Exchange, both on the main site and meta. For the benefit of users unfamiliar with this term, I thought that it would be a good idea to ...
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What mechanisms are there to stop people from simply creating a new account if they've been question banned?
I understand the idea of a question ban - if you keep making bad questions you can't do so anymore. But what's to stop someone from simply creating a new account and continuing to do so?
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Duplicating standard reasoning in a question about an open problem in number theory
Recently, a math professor, with a very impressive set of mathematical papers. made a comment that took me by surprise. I am very open to the feedback. I wanted to open it up here to see what others ...
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I am a student and have reached my limit of 50 questions per month what do I do?
I am a student and have reached my limit of 50 questions per month. I am poor and can't afford a math teacher and have been using this site to teach me a lot of new things so that I can get better at ...
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How can I improve my specific question?
My question
I am here to understand how improve to formulate my question.
As matter of fact in the link I have tried to show my attempt and I have required as a question to check if my attempt is ...
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Red Colored Tags Showing Up for Certain Tags and Questions is Confusing me. What do They Mean and Why are They Here?
Status-byDesign and faq are both tags that appear completely red when one tries to view them or put them into a question Here is what I mean:
These appear to look like this because these tags are ...
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vertex transitive self answer
Can I self answer a question I post about examples of connected, vertex transitive graphs? I cannot find anything listing larger ones, and am even less likely to find examples with thoughtful choices ...
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Does this question on observed animal choices in a binary decision tree belong on math.SE?
I am conducting biological research on animal behavior. I have an experimental design that looks to me awfully like a math problem. I don't know if it is suitable for the math.SE and I have problems ...
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Advise new users to stay engaged with their question
A number of times recently I've seen a new user drop a simple question (some bad, but some OK questions), and it's got some misunderstanding of what they're working on or a confusing explanation, ...
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Can you have two accounts for two separate people, on the same computer?
Can you have two accounts for two separate people, on the same computer?
My sister and I thought so, but she just tried to create a new account on this site. However, I personally can't ask questions ...
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