Fwd: THE THERMODYNAMICS OF HELL

[Guest guest]

> > The following is an actual question given on a

> University of Washington

> > chemistry mid-term exam. 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.

> >

> > 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,

> > but fell short in producing a demonstration

> argument.

> >

> > One student, however, wrote the following:

> >

> > Bonus Question:

> >

> > Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic

> (absorbs heat)?

> >

> > " 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.

> > Most

> > 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. 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.

> >

> > Considering then the postulate presented to me by

> K. 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 over two years later, I

> still have not succeeded

> > in

> > having 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.

>

>

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