Homework Help: Ask Questions and Get Answers Online

Online classes are convenient, but they don’t always offer the support of a regular university. When you find yourself wishing you had a tutor to guide you through a difficult math problem or help you with an essay question, don’t distress. A number of Q&A websites offer you the ability to ask questions and get answers online.

General Question and Answer Websites

Yahoo! Answers – This free site allows users to ask questions and receive answers from fellow users. Question topics include subjects such as Arts and the Humanities, Science and Mathematics, and Education and Reference. Users receive points based on their answers, and almost all questions receive a quick response. A large number of answerers seem to be from the younger crowd, so be prepared for some silly and irrelevant quips along with the helpful responses.

Google Answers – Answerers on this site are paid researchers. You pose a question on any topic and offer to pay anything from $2.50 to $200. Not all questions are answered. However, the answers that are given tend to be well-written and thorough. Most people tend to pose in-depth or hard-to-answer questions and are quite pleased with the response they receive.

Answerology – This service allows users to answer each others questions and form “Question Groups” that track the questions in a particular topic. Questions and Answers tend to be more social than academic.

Academic Question and Answer Websites

General Academics

About College – This service provides answers to questions about college life. Answers are sent by email and may also be posted to the site.

Ask A Librarian – Brought to you by the Library of Congress, this nifty service allows you to ask a question and receive an email response from a librarian. As a word of warning, they request that users avoid simply sending in their homework questions. However, this service can be invaluable for specific research questions. Answers are typically received within five business days.

The Arts

Ask Philosophers – Hosted by the University of Amherst, this site allows users to ask a philosophical question and receive a response from a philosopher. Answered questions are posted on the site within a few days.

Ask a Linguist – Your linguistic questions can be answered by a panel of professionals on this site. Answers are posted on the website, along with your first name.

The Sciences

Ask a Geologist – Questions about the earth are answered on this site by U.S. Geological Survey scientists. Answers are generally received by email within a few days.

Ask a Math Tutor – From linguistics to calculus, this math tutor will try to answer your math questions within twenty-four hours. All questions are answered by email.

Ask Dr. Math – Your math questions can be answered and posted as an example on this site.

Go Ask Alice! – Hosted by Columbia University’s health department, this service answers a select number of health-related questions each week.