Hey guys. This thing will surely stretch you in trying to remember the PU class thermodynamic fundas. Good one. Just needs some patience.

"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."