View Full Version : Something about Hell


shadow_thief
Wed, 8th Aug '01, 9:13pm
Since I'm in the chatroom, we were talking about hell and that reminded me of this:

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 (giving off heat) or endothermic (absorbing 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.

BogiTheWaverer
Wed, 8th Aug '01, 9:34pm
*ROTFLMAO*
I once spent two years of my life on chemistry on the Technical University of Vienna but i unfortunately never met a lass called Theresa. That's maybe the reason why I never get an 'A'. :D

Gormenghast
Sat, 11th Aug '01, 8:13am
Rotfl !
:d

Taluntain
Sat, 11th Aug '01, 9:11pm
ROTFLMAO. That must be funniest thing I've seen in a while. "A" material indeed.

shadow_thief
Sat, 11th Aug '01, 10:02pm
Well, I don't fully understand, there is that 1% that hasn't been discovered in my brain, but all the same I thought it was funny. Last month I went to my Grandma's and she gave the sheet but I left it there. I got an email on it from my aunt instead when I came back a week later...You can also see this on pg.3 of 'Religion Curiosity'.

Crawl
Sun, 12th Aug '01, 5:23am
Well, for an answer that creative, that guy honestly deserved an A. Though you can think of it this way. If he got an A, he probably deserved it because anyone who has that much time left over on a college science test to come up with such a creative answer obviously either knows nothing or really has his act together. Since he got an A, I'd assume the secong to be true. Still, the best answer I've seen on a science exam in a long time :D

kemanmaldea
Sun, 12th Aug '01, 5:09pm
I havent a clue and at the moment I have't the brain power to come up with an answer. (or the time or inclintation.)