Subject:      FW: A+

The following is an actual question given on a
University of Washington chemistry mid-term:

"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 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 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
pressure 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 night 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.

The student got the only A.