This question on spectrometry, asked a few days ago, was closed as being a homework question.

Determining Structure of molecule based on IR Spectra and HNMR data

I will be the first to agree that it is a really bad fit for our site. So, I don't even mind it being closed. In fact, the single downvote on the question is from me.

However, I don't understand why it is closed specifically as homework. The homework close reason reads

Homework questions must demonstrate some effort to understand the underlying concepts...

Personally, I think there is enough "effort" in this question to not warrant closure. I know that you may or may not agree with my assessment, as this is a subjective matter; in fact, this is why I did not use my moderator close vote, and it is also one reason why I am not going to use my moderator reopen vote now.

The other reason why I am not reopening it is simply because I still think it is a bad fit for the site. (I don't mean to blame the OP him/herself; I am just talking about the question.) I think that an answer that addresses the OP's queries is almost impossible to write. An answerer would have to explain, at the very least:

1. The usefulness of the IR peaks
2. Where to start from in determining the molecular structure (OP seems to have started from the IR data, which is imo almost useless in this case)
3. What the 5H integral at 7.2 ppm means
4. 5+1+2+2 = 10 protons in total, not 11, as the OP seems to think. Probably a careless mistake, but still.
5. Why OP's proposed structure does not fit the spectrometric data given
6. What the actual answer is (it's 2-phenylethanol, in case you're lazy to work it out)

I am slightly frustrated at this entire scenario. I understand that users do not want to write such an answer. However, the close reason given is inapplicable. If the OP had gone to read the homework meta post, it would not help him/her at all. The way I see it, the issue is that this OP has far too many misconceptions, which makes the question a very poor fit for Stack Exchange.

My question, therefore, is twofold:

(1) Should we be closing such questions? (Note that closure still allows you to engage with the OP in the comment section, or chat, for example, if you want to help.)

(2) If so, do we need a new close reason to cover such cases, instead of using homework as a catch-all?

This question on spectrometry, asked a few days ago, was closed as being a homework question.

Determining Structure of molecule based on IR Spectra and HNMR data

I will be the first to agree that it is a really bad fit for our site. So, I don't even mind it being closed. In fact, the single downvote on the question is from me.

However, I don't understand why it is closed specifically as homework. The homework close reason reads

Homework questions must demonstrate some effort to understand the underlying concepts...

Personally, I think there is enough "effort" in this question to not warrant closure. I know that you may or may not agree with my assessment, as this is a subjective matter; in fact, this is why I did not use my moderator close vote, and it is also one reason why I am not going to use my moderator reopen vote now.

The other reason why I am not reopening it is simply because I still think it is a bad fit for the site. (I don't mean to blame the OP him/herself; I am just talking about the question.) I think that an answer that addresses the OP's queries is almost impossible to write. An answerer would have to explain, at the very least:

1. The usefulness of the IR peaks
2. Where to start from in determining the molecular structure (OP seems to have started from the IR data, which is imo almost useless in this case)
3. What the 5H integral at 7.2 ppm means
4. 5+1+2+2 = 10 protons in total, not 11, as the OP seems to think. Probably a careless mistake, but still.
5. Why OP's proposed structure does not fit the spectrometric data given
6. What the actual answer is (it's 2-phenylethanol, in case you're lazy to work it out)

I am slightly frustrated at this entire scenario. I understand that users do not want to write such an answer. However, the close reason given is inapplicable. If the OP had gone to read the homework meta post, it would not help him/her at all. The way I see it, the issue is that this OP has far too many misconceptions, which makes the question a very poor fit for Stack Exchange.

My question, therefore, is twofold:

(1) Should we be closing such questions? (Note that closure still allows you to engage with the OP in the comment section, or chat, for example, if you want to help.)

(2) If so, do we need a new close reason to cover such cases, instead of using homework as a catch-all?