Exam story
A thermodynamics professor had written a take home exam for his graduate
students. It had one question: "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 as it expands and heats up as 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 at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely
assume that once a soul gets to Hell it will not leave. There-
fore, 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 most people do not
belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people
and all souls will go to Hell. With birth and death rates as
they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase
exponentially.
Second, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell be-
cause Boyle's law states that in order for 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, it Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the
increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and
pressure would drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given me by Miss Theresa Banyan
during my freshman year that states, "It will be a cold night
in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the
fact that I still have not slept with her, then #2 cannot be
true, so Hell is exothermic.
The student got the only A.
students. It had one question: "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 as it expands and heats up as 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 at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely
assume that once a soul gets to Hell it will not leave. There-
fore, 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 most people do not
belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people
and all souls will go to Hell. With birth and death rates as
they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase
exponentially.
Second, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell be-
cause Boyle's law states that in order for 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, it Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the
increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and
pressure would drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given me by Miss Theresa Banyan
during my freshman year that states, "It will be a cold night
in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the
fact that I still have not slept with her, then #2 cannot be
true, so Hell is exothermic.
The student got the only A.
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