BONUS QUESTION on a University of Washington chemistry mid term:
Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most students wrote proofs of their conclusion using Boyle's Law
(a gas expands when it cools and conversely, as it cools the volume of
a gas increases, and a gas contracts when it heats up and conversely, when
it is compressed, it heats up. Therefore, if the volume is constant , so
is the temperature -- all things being equal.)
One student, the only one to receive an A, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell changes over time. So,
we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they
are leaving. I think 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 enter Hell, let's look at the different religions
... . 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
[normally] belong to more than one religion, we can project that almost
all souls go to Hell.
With death and birth 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."
So, which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Jane 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.