Fantastic - really enjoyed it.

Cheers

Deri


On Tuesday 28 October 2008 20:42:26 Heather Beaudry wrote:
> Chemistry in Hell
> The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington
> chemistry midterm. The answer was so "profound" that the professor shared
> it with colleagues, which is 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 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 Ms. Teresa Banyan
> 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.

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