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See for example Need to make an airtight rocket without Glue, Tape, etc. How?.

OP even admits they need this "for school", i.e. it's obvious homework.

Other sites in Stack Exchange prohibit homework questions, but not all.

What should we do here with such questions? Personally I have a feeling they should be closed, but not part of the "core" of this site, it's not my decision to make.

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    Maybe try to pin the student down to expressing the problem well; and, then to tell us what they've already tried, what worked, and what didn't in an effort to create a learning experience and some reflection on the problem to solve. Then, at least some benefit has been given the student. After all, we're all students to some degree needing help with our "homework."
    – Stan
    Jun 9, 2019 at 2:36
  • @Stan true, it's more about the way one asks the question than its contents. Jun 9, 2019 at 11:43

1 Answer 1

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I'm not opposed to homework questions which are on-topic.

Few homework questions are likely to be on-topic, however. As noted on the tour page:

Don't ask about...

  • Conventional "how to…" questions about skills that can commonly be learned elsewhere
  • Questions about using products in the way they were designed to be used

Most homework questions are likely to fall into one of these categories.

In the case of the linked question, I think with enough details it could be a well written request since it's looking for an alternative way to accomplish a goal; it just needs to be more specific.

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  • What if the "student" / "school" angle is a ploy to get a detailed response that a "normal" response wouldn't? – Stan Jul 30 at 2:31 (copy/pasted here)
    – Stan
    Aug 22, 2019 at 21:21
  • @Stan A strong answer to an on-topic question is a strong answer no matter the temperament of the OP. Users that aren't kind to the community are already handled, largely implicitly.
    – Mooseman
    Aug 22, 2019 at 22:54

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