Thread: Guideline to Asking for Help with Work

Hey there.

This thread is to provide a brief guideline for those asking for help with science homework, etcetera, and to those who wish to provide help.

There is absolutely no problem with asking for help with science or maths work in this forum if you are stuck, especially if your question is an interesting one which will promote discussion; given the large number of well-educated members at DV, you can be fairly sure of receiving an answer.

However, this forum is not here to provide a service to those who just want an answer to write down for tomorrow's work because they do not want to put in the effort to think about it themselves. Answering these questions would be a waste of DV members' time, and, more importantly, by providing a crutch without actually educating the asker about the basis of the question, would be detrimental to their study.

Therefore the following is advised:

Guidelines for Questioners

If possible, do not relate the full details of the question. If you know which specific area the question is getting at, ask for some general help about that area. If you are getting stuck on a part of a question, just ask for help with that particular bit.

If you do feel the need to post the entire question however, please refrain from posting the actual numbers (if there are any) in the hope of getting a numerical answer from another member which you can just write down.

Originally Posted by Bad person >:(

A pendulum of length 10m and mass 50kg swings with a small angle in a gravitational field of strength 5ms^-2. What is the frequency of the pendulum?

Originally Posted by Good person :D

Can somebody explain the physics of a pendulum with a small angle of swing?

Originally Posted by Good person :D

I have to find the frequency of a swinging pendulum. I have set up the equations but can't solve them. Can I have some advice?

Guidelines for Answerers

Do not do the entire question. If the asker did not specify, ask them what in particular is confusing them. Try to apply the Socratic method and explain the basis of the question, rather than telling the asker how to solve their specific problem.

In particular, if the asker gives numbers, do not provide a numerical answer. If they provide symbols, indicate which formulae they may need to apply, but do not solve the formulae so as to give the final answer in symbolic form.

Originally Posted by Bad person >:(

0.158s

Originally Posted by Bad person >:(

The formula is 2*pi*sqrt...

Originally Posted by Good person :D

Where in particular are you getting stuck? Have you tried to draw a force diagram?

Originally Posted by Good person :D

Try using the fact that the oscillations are small. Do you know any approximations you could make in this circumstance?

The thing to bear in mind for all is that we want education and discussion rather than answers.

Thanks.