DeTomaso Mailing List: February 00, Message #191

Now this is a good one.

Dave "ha ha " D

>FW: [PH] hell
>
>
>
>The following is an actual question given on a
>University of Washington chemistry mid term.  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.
>
>