Using it
Asking Good Questions
Ask Physics reads questions the way a careful student would. A few habits get you better answers.
Give every value a unit
"Dropped from 20 m" works. "Dropped from 20" doesn't say whether that is metres, feet, or storeys. Common spellings work (m/s, km/h, mph, kilograms, ohms), and a number can be digits or words before a unit ("an eight kilogram ball"). Temperatures work in kelvin, Celsius, or Fahrenheit ("20 °C", "68 degrees Fahrenheit"); say "heated by 20 °C" for a change and "heated to 20 °C" for a temperature.
Say which situation you mean
Some equations share every variable and differ only in meaning. If you don't say which, the answer is flagged as ambiguous with low confidence:
| Say | Not just |
|---|---|
| "two resistors in series" or "in parallel" | "two resistors" |
| "the orbital speed" or "the escape speed" | "the speed it needs" |
Each equation's page lists its look-alikes (for example, series resistors and parallel resistors).
Label values that could be confused
When a question has two masses or two speeds, say which is which: "the first cart, 2 kg, moves at 3 m/s; the second, 5 kg, is at rest". With no labels, the first value stated is taken as the first of a pair. Labels like R1 = 40 ohm, "the emissivity is 0.017", and "110 m for the distance to the object" all work.
Ask for one thing
"What is its final speed?" or "find the time" tells it what to solve for. "How fast", "how far", "what height", and "how long does it take" work too.
Every value counts
If you give a value, the answer is expected to use it. When no equation uses something you stated, the answer still comes back, but flagged with "the question gives X, but the plan doesn't use it", because the extra value might mean it picked the wrong equation.
What it can't do yet
- Problems that need a quantity subtracted from another first ("heated from 20 °C to 80 °C" needs the change, 60 °C; say "heated by 60 °C" for now).
- Vectors, and answers that need a numerical solver.
- Research-level physics, now or at v1.0.