Thermodynamics

This isn't the first time this has come across my email, but I thought I would share it... It's changed a bit since the first time I read it, and there are some serious flaws with the argument presented, but it still made me chuckle...

The following is an actual question given on a University of
Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound"
that the professor shared it with colleagues via the Internet, which is
of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

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 religions that
exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not
a member 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 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 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 Tia 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 is therefore
extinct...leaving only Heaven -- thereby proving the existence of a divine
being which explains why, last night, Tia kept shouting "Oh,my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A".