So, I am high school student, and many times, I get stuck on questions, and my teachers often don't clear every doubts. So, I ask on Chemistry.stackexchange, but often get downvoted as whole. Interestingly, Like this naive question and others, they unusually have lots of upvotes. I follow all policies for homework questions, like showing your attempt/understanding, writing with no mistakes as possible, and being clear about my questions. But still I get downvoted, which is frustrating. So I need more tips on improving my questions quality. Every help is massively appreciated
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2$\begingroup$ I guess the linked example question has accumulated so many upvotes simply because it is so old (it is present for almost ten years) and because it is one of the first Google hits when you search for something like "more than 8 valence electrons". $\endgroup$– LoongCommented Oct 2, 2021 at 9:21
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A number of your questions could be adequately explained by reading a (good, high-quality) textbook, or by watching some proper online videos. Examples (some of which will only be visible to 10,000-rep users):
- Why does $\Delta G < 0$ mean spontaneity? — the reasoning is explained in any good physical chemistry textbook.
- Are bonds in benzene continually being broken and re-formed? — this common misconception is dealt with in any organic chemistry book worth its salt, along with numerous places on the Internet, including this question and answer on SE.
- Why does Avogadro's number work? — many resources explain the concept of a mole and how the different quantities relate to each other. If you have read / watched these and still don't understand it, what makes you think that somebody's explanation here will be any different?
Unfortunately, many posts on here give me the impression that the textbooks available to you are not the best in terms of their content quality. I suggest looking in Resources for learning Chemistry.
Finally, please don't use MathJax (dollar signs, i.e. $...$) to italicise words. This applies equally to this meta question as well as your questions on main site. When you enclose something in dollar signs, you are effectively saying that it is a mathematical equation. If you want to italicise something, just use asterisks *...*.
answered Oct 2, 2021 at 13:28
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$\begingroup$ Thanks for your suggestion! Unfortunately I live in India, and don't have access to good quality, books. Whatever books available, often is focuses on clearing examinations with tricks, shortcuts, rather than good, conceptual/deep Theory. So, i resort to asking on stackexchange websites. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 2, 2021 at 13:46
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4$\begingroup$ Yes, I can understand that, but that's why I specifically also mentioned Internet resources. There are so many YouTube series, or other websites dedicated to learning. And you have Internet access (as evidenced by you posting here), so you definitely can access these. Basically: be resourceful. Knowing how to look for information will get you further in life than just knowing things straight up, even if the latter seems more impressive. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 2, 2021 at 22:31
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$\begingroup$ Thank you, I will definitely look for resources online! $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 3, 2021 at 7:07
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$\begingroup$ @orthocresol Isn't "proper online videos" an oxymoron? $\endgroup$– LoongCommented Nov 8, 2021 at 18:18
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$\begingroup$ @Loong I'd say things like MIT OCW are good, although way too advanced for this particular case... There is definitely a lot of lousy stuff on YouTube :-/ $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 8, 2021 at 18:29