Question:
Hell - Exothermic or Endothermic?
The
following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry
mid-term. 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. 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 when it expands and
heats 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 at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which
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 is 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:
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. 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?
