What's the Temperature in Hell?
Is Hell Exothermic or Endothermic?
The following question was reportedly given on a chemistry mid
term at the University of Washington.
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.
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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 over
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, let's 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:
- 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.
- 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 postulation given to me by Karen during
my Freshman year, "...that it will be a cold day in Hell
before I go out with you," and taking into account the
fact that I still have not succeeded in having relations with
her, then, #2 can not be true.
And thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze.
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