Question

This section is so empty. I wonder if anyone will even see this.

Answer 1

I hate how hard it is to get a reply in the chemistry section!

Answer 2

I usually read every recent question in the chemistry section, when I read this site at all, which is most days. But I don't answer all of them, or even most of them. Generally the odds are better for getting an answer if...

(1) The question is well written, e.g. it contains all the information necessary to understand the problem, and also contains good information about what the questioner has already tried and where, as precisely as possible, he is now stuck; It takes time and mental energy for me to write a helpful answer -- why would I want to go to that trouble if the questioner himself hasn't bothered to go to the similar effort of making sure his question is focussed and well-expressed? If the questioner is clearly being lazy, I have zero interest in spending my effort to help him.

(2) The question isn't obviously just a request to do somebody's homework for him or help him cheat on an assignment or test. I am too sympathetic to those who do NOT do such things, and would prefer that they receive just compensation for their integrity. Helping someone get a better grade than he deserves is not cost-free: since grades are compared and matter for real-world advancement, the result of helping one student to get a better grade than he deserves is to punish someone who has played by the rules and earned his credit squarely on his own. It's a form of intellectual theft, and I won't help with that.

(3) The question is sufficiently general -- about principles, rather than specific examples -- that the answer has a good chance of being useful to more than just the person asking it. That is, the answer must contain something general and important about chemistry, and not just "you forgot to multiply by 2 in the fourth line" or :"you should google the name of the formula for computing vapor pressure from latent heat." I figure there are plenty of people who can help with that -- you don't need someone with a PhD in chemistry to address it, just like you wouldn't expect your doctor to put a bandaid on your scratch (and wouldn't want to pay for his time to do so).

Let me suggest that these general principles may operate with others that have expertise, and they are worth bearing in mind all your life. A professor, a doctor, a lawyer, the hiring manager of a business, the guy in charge of product design or quality control at a big electronics firm -- these are all very busy people, and have unbelievable demands on their time (as you'll find out yourself one day). To get the kind of high-quality help they can provide, it's worth remembering the principles above. It's not that they're mean or stuck-up -- it's that the world doesn't revolve around you, and expecting it to stop what it's doing and attend to even your smallest need is something we must all leave behind with maturity.

Answer 3

Why take the time to write all that?^ All of that is pretty much obvious, but I still never get answers to even the most simple, well-written, general questions. This section is just a lost cause in my opinion.

Answer 4

Because it may be useful to someone other than you. And, I would suggest that if you truly "never get answers to even the most simple, well-written, general questions," that you re-examine your assumptions. Perhaps your questions are NOT simple, well-written, or general.

That is, good science suggests that when the experimental data don't conform to your expectations and your theory, you re-examine your theory.