On Monday, November 4, 2002, at 12:49 PM, Michael Anderson wrote:

> Chemistry MidTerm - Question & Answer
>
> The following is an actual question from 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!
>
> MidTerm 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 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.  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 us 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.

Great story!! ... But just a little boo-boo.

It should read a) "# 1 cannot be true" and b) "Hell is endothermic".

Picky, picky me!

> This student received the only "A" given on this Mid-Term!

In light of the boo-boo, maybe a B+ would have sufficed.

FW

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