This is a great story!! It is an urban legend. For those interested, there
is more information on the web site below:
<http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/hell.htm>http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/hell.htm
At 10:41 AM 5/21/2003 +1000, you wrote:
> Sent to me by a Canadian friend
>
>
> Subject: FW: The Thermodynamics of Hell
>
> This is why I love University students.
>
> Subject: The Thermodynamics of Hell
> The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington
> chemistry midterm. 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.
> One student, however, wrote the following:
> 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. 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 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. 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.
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