# Can we ask for help on homework problems we've already turned in? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 9, 2006, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-ask-for-help-on-homework-problems-weve-already-turned-in/347762 "2006-03-09T23:45:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-ask-for-help-on-homework-problems-weve-already-turned-in/347762/21 "2006-03-10T12:39:28Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > Again, completely irrelevant. > > He didn’t even ask the question yet. The answer to the question is not relevant to the _question itself?_ ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-ask-for-help-on-homework-problems-weve-already-turned-in/347762/22 "2006-03-10T12:49:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If you refer back to the OP, the question wasn’t about providing a process that might lead the questioner to the answer, it was about providing the answer _itself_. How likely is it that anyone would answer the following question with only the answer? What’s the circumference of a circle, if the radius is 2? 12.5663706 Wouldn’t it be more likely for dopers in general to explain it in laymans terms? C=2r Pi? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-ask-for-help-on-homework-problems-weve-already-turned-in/347762/23 "2006-03-10T12:55:21Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > How likely is it that anyone would answer the following question with only the answer? > > What’s the circumference of a circle, if the radius is 2? > > 12.5663706 > Wouldn’t it be more likely for dopers in general to explain it in laymans terms? C=2r Pi? If we _didn’t_ have a policy against answering homework questions, I would say that the likelihood of someone eventually just giving out the answer to the question would be about 100%. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-ask-for-help-on-homework-problems-weve-already-turned-in/347762/24 "2006-03-10T12:56:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If we _didn’t_ have a policy against answering homework questions, I would say that the likelihood of someone eventually just giving out the answer to the question would be about 100%. Yeah, and that would be the end of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-ask-for-help-on-homework-problems-weve-already-turned-in/347762/25 "2006-03-10T15:16:06Z")
I see the Teeming Millions are in fine form again today! Nothing to whip up the blood like a discussion of homework. Ah, good times. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-ask-for-help-on-homework-problems-weve-already-turned-in/347762/26 "2006-03-10T16:19:56Z")
> [@Arnold Winkelried](#): > > I see the Teeming Millions are in fine form again today! More like a sTeeming [del]Millions[/del] One. _I’m_ happy, remember? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-ask-for-help-on-homework-problems-weve-already-turned-in/347762/27 "2006-03-10T16:25:03Z")
I’m not getting why this is a problem here. To further the pursuit of knowledge we’ve always allowed some latitude in discussion of homework; however, we won’t solve your problems for you, write your essays for you, or give you quiz answers. This goes back to our earliest days. Over the years we’ve had people come in with take home tests and ask for answers. We’ve had PARENTS come in looking for clues on how to write essays for their kids. (I am not making that up, sad to say). We want to be helpful, but simply giving someone the answers is not helpful at all, as mostly the business of learning is about how to do something, not so much the answer itself. Telling you the answer makes the question right but doesn’t teach the method. There are no shorcuts in learning how to learn. Do the work, work the steps, move on. In the scenario given above, yeah, we’d check your work if you gave the answer . . . and could explain how you got it. That’s not doing your homework for you and it’s us being helpful, which many people here like to do. So what’s the problem? TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-ask-for-help-on-homework-problems-weve-already-turned-in/347762/28 "2006-03-11T13:34:37Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Because I’m not Arnold? 😕 > Believe me, if I wasn’t interested in the answer to the question, I wouldn’t have responded in the first place. _My_ question was a sincere attempt to see if **Agent Foxtrot** had some specific ideas as to how we could tell if someone had actually already completed their homework assignment. There really isn’t a way…just the honor system, I guess. I didn’t actually arrive at a solution to my problem. I was going to post the work I had done, ask if I was on the right track, and ask what my next course of action should be. It’s really not a big deal that I get an answer before next week. I had just worked really hard on the problem, and was anxious to see the solution. Sorry for the controvery. 😉 Adam [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-ask-for-help-on-homework-problems-weve-already-turned-in/347762.md?page=1)