Is Hell Exo or Endo Thermic?
Forget about all the lame quizes I've been taking lately.
Here is a kickass email my Dad sent me from work.
kate
Is Hell Exo or Endo Thermic?
This is an actual question on a University of Washington physics mid-term
exam: IS HELL EXOTHERMIC (gives off heat) OR ENDOTHERMIC (absorbs heat)
Support your answer with a proof. 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 goes 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 people and 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 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
pres
sure will drop until Hell freezes over. So which is it? If we accept the
postulate given to me by Ms Therese 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 that area, then (2) cannot be
true, and so Hell is exothermic."
The student got the only A.
Here is a kickass email my Dad sent me from work.
kate
Is Hell Exo or Endo Thermic?
This is an actual question on a University of Washington physics mid-term
exam: IS HELL EXOTHERMIC (gives off heat) OR ENDOTHERMIC (absorbs heat)
Support your answer with a proof. 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 goes 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 people and 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 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
pres
sure will drop until Hell freezes over. So which is it? If we accept the
postulate given to me by Ms Therese 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 that area, then (2) cannot be
true, and so Hell is exothermic."
The student got the only A.