From: ck demchuk (ckbarr66@hotmail.com)
Date: Fri Jul 14 2000 - 15:52:53 PDT
Message-ID: <20000714225253.88350.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "ck demchuk" <ckbarr66@hotmail.com> Subject: the physics of hades - for fun Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 22:52:53 GMT
The following was an actual question on a University
of Washington chemistry mid term:
"Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs
heat)? Support your answer with 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 that 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 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 Ms. Therese Banyan during my Freshman year that,
"It will be a cold night in Hell before I sleep with
you," and taking 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.
This student got the only A.
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