merging questions

Question

What happens when questions are merged? Specifically, what happens to the question body itself, and what if all the merged questions had an accepted answer? Which answer will be the accepted one after the merge?

I have a particular problem with this merged question. Two issues:

1. The original question was about -20V to +20V input; the merged question about -2V to +2V. My method for solving the former (if you allow me saying) is clever, but is specific for this problem, where the input voltages go beyond the rails, and it doesn't work for the -2V to +2V. So, however elaborated, it seems out of place, and maybe even a bad answer, depending how you look at it. I find this very frustrating.
2. No, I don't remember if my answer was the accepted one before the merge. But the currently accepted answer frustrates me as well. I know, the user who asks the question is free to accept any answer he wants, but I have the impression that the accepted answer may have been accepted because it was the only answer, again before the merge. It's very brief, vague and has no detail whatsoever. I try to give detailed answers so that others can learn from them. Again, frustrating.

Answer 1

Background in the blog:

• http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/04/handling-duplicate-questions/

• http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/06/improved-question-merging/

• http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/11/dr-strangedupe-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-duplication/

In general I agree with you; "exact" duplicates is more of a platonic ideal than an actual reality in almost all cases. It's tricky.

Answer 2

I was frustrated (as you were) by the proliferation of duplicate questions in that problem area. iUngi was asking new questions, being berated for asking very similar questions, but getting new answers and not learning from them. My goals were:

1. To send send the message that abuse of our Q&A was unacceptable.
2. To make the Q&A as useful for future readers as possible.

These goals shouldn't ever be in conflict with each other.

The apparently difficult question of sampling a low-frequency AC signal with the ADC of a PIC microcontroller has a plethora of questions from iUngi:

• How do I sample a -2 V to +2 V analog signal with a PIC microcontroller?
• https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/15985/voltage-measurment-with-pic (trying to simulate a 20V signal)
• https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/15940/measure-voltage-with-pic (the closed and merged 20V question).

There are also other, older questions:

• PIC voltage measurement (18V battery)
• How do I measure a negative voltage with a ADC? (more general)

In hindsight, it appears that I focused too much on preventing abuse, and too little on accumulating good Q&A.