Hell Freezes Over

Something I got from Richie...



The following is an actual question given on a washington chemistry midterm.

The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues

via the internet:



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 when it expands and

heats 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 at

which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at

which 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.

Most of these releigions state that if you are

not a memeber of their religion you will go to Hell.

Since there is more than one of these religions,

and since people do not belong to more than

one religion, we can surmise 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 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.



So which is it?



If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa

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 slept with her last night,

then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that

Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.



The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has

frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any

more souls and, therefore extinct... leaving

only Heaven -- thereby proving the existence of a

divine being -- which explains why last night,

Teresa kept shouting, "Oh my God!"



THIS STUDENT RECEIVED "A"