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This came from Edith Tipple with following comment:

 

" If this isn't too " hot " for One.list, please post. Otherwise, enjoy (or

not) and dump " .

 

Yours,

Edith

 

 

 

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 allows 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, 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.