[extropy-chat] Hell

[natashavita at earthlink.net]

A colleague at work sent this to me.  It's silly, but what the hell?

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington
chemistry mid-term exam. 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 off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some
variant, but fell short in producing a demonstration argument. 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.

 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:

 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.

 Considering then the postulate presented to me by Teresa K. during my
Freshman year: that "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you"
and taking into account the fact that over two years later, I still have
not succeeded in having 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."


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