It really belittles a person when you reply in a smarty-alecky way. Firstly it insults their intelligence, secondly it puts the person in fear of more ridicule about asking anymore questions.

If you are genuine about trying to help someone, the best reply you can give is claims with reasoning (explanation). For example: Resistors have colour bands on them, <u> because the colours are used to identify their value.</u>

The underlined words denote the reasoning; it explains why resistors have colour bands on them. The words before it form the claim. That sentence is called a premise.

Trent Jackson