A real question asked on a Chemistry Mid term exam......?

Question

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer was so "profound" that the
professor shared it with colleagues, which is why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it. Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off
heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
i would like to see what you have to say abou this question what your thought is. in about an hour i will post the anwser given by the student.

i know i said an hour but the answer is too good to wait!

There is alot to say so this is part A

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law, (gas cools 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 over time. So we need
to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think 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, lets look at the different religions of the world.
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 belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.

Part B:

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 constant, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added. This allows for 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, 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.

Part C:

So is it #1 or #2? If we accept the postulate given to me by Ms. Teresa Banyan during my freshman year, "...that it will be a cold day in
Hell before I go out with you."-and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in winning Ms. Banyan's affections, then, #2
cannot be true, and thus I am certain Hell is exothermic and will not freeze." The student received the only "A" on the exam.

Answer 1

"a female student in freshman year said it would be a cold day in hell before she slept with me, since "female sudent" has yet to sleep with me; Hell is still warm, therefore Hell is gaining energy..."

The continuation of that goes:

"But then ... the other night she finally slept with me. I must have been wrong. Hell must be exothermic."

Answer 2

You have to see Hell as part of the larger Heaven/Hell system. Heaven is a bright, cool place where everyone is happy. Hell is a hot, dark place where everyone is unhappy. We have evidence that there can be interchange between Heaven and Hell (God sent Lucifer to Hell, therefore the systems are linked).

So, thermodynamically, at some time in the distant future they should reach a state of equilibrium, resulting in a dim, warm place where everyone is vaguely dissatisfied.

Answer 3

i would have to say that it's exothermic. heat transfer can only occur from hot to cold, therefore, if it was endothermic, that would mean that hell is cold and it is absorbing heat from its hotter surrounding, and since hell is forever... so they say, that means that hell will never be quite as hot as its surrounding therefore invalidating the notion of hell. If it was exothermic, that means that hell is hotter than its outer surrounding and will stay that way if this exothermic nature lasts forever.

so if there were only these two choices, exothermic would be the more likely choice.

Answer 4

Endothermic. Flame requires 3 things - fuel, oxygen, and.....heat. It took heat to start the flames. Now you may say, a hell of a lot of heat is being given off and that is true. however, the continued heat is supported by the burning of fuel. Overall the reaction is consuming heat energy and therefore endothermic.

Answer 5

"a female student in freshman year said it would be a cold day in hell before she slept with me, since "female sudent" has yet to sleep with me; Hell is still warm, therefore Hell is gaining energy..."

Answer 6

You don't know yet. Its only the midterm just wait till you see the final.

Answer 7

This is an old joke and has been around a long time.

Answer 8

well if u mean helium..in natural form its neither exo nor endo..
if u mean sumthin else i hve realy no clue...
waiting 4 d answer.,,

Answer 9

exothermic

Answer 10

no thanks