>The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington
>chemistry mid term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the
>
>professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of
>course,
>why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.
>
>Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic gives off heat) or endothermic
>(absorbs
>heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's
>Law,
>(gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed)or
>some
>variant. One student, however, wrote the following:
>
>First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we
>need
>to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are
>leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to
>Hell, it
>will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls
>are
>entering Hell, lets look at the different religions that exist in the
>world
>today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of
>their
>religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these
>religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we
>can
>project that all souls go to Hell.
>
>With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of
>souls in
>Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of
>the
>volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the
>temperature
>and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand
>proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:
>
>1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls
>enter
>Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all
>Hell
>breaks loose.
>2. Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of
>
>souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell
>freezes over.
>
>So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during
>my
>Freshman year, "...that it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep
>with
>you.", and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in
>
>having sexual relations with her, then, #2 cannot be true, and thus I am
>
>sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze. The student received
>the
>only "A" given.
>
>
>
>
>