Re: Questions that lack sufficient information

[Ludwik Kowalski <kowalskiL@MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU>]

What else is new? Authors of computer manuals often assume
that most readers can guess correctly what is meant in a given
situation. Using too many words and sentences, the authors
think, is not worth the effort. I do not think that physics
teachers should make the same assumptions. On the other
hand, as indicated by JohnD this morning, one has to be
reasonable in dealing with conflicting demands.
Ludwik Kowalski

Gary Turner wrote:

> I offer help through askme.com and have been quite surprised at the number
> of badly worded questions that come through, mostly from math.com users.
> These questions usually have vital pieces of information missing.
>
> I was wondering if any others on the list had noticed similar problems.  Do
> these errors originate from the students submitting the questions, or are
> they a result of poorly worded questions from the start?  Does anyone know
> where math.com gets their questions?
>
> For example - a question I received today
>
> A fire helicopter carries a 589 kg bucket of water at the end of a 17.1 m
> long cable. Flying back from a fire at a constant speed of 39.7 m/s, the
> cable makes an angle of 45.9=B0 with respect to the vertical. Determine the
> force of air resistance on the bucket.
>
> This may seem a little picky, but there is no information about the
> direction of flight.  If you assume that constant speed really means
> constant velocity, you still need the direction of flight (angle from the
> vertical) to obtain the direction of the air resistance force.